A tourist had to run for his life before being trampled by an elephant after apparently venturing too close for a selfie.

The man reportedly trespassed in a restricted forest near the Bankapur temple in Karnataka, southwest India.

He allegedly tried to take a selfie with the creature but had to flee when it turned on him after being startled by the flash.

Footage taken by visitors driving through the reserve on Sunday shows the elephant shrieking as it thunders across the road to chase the tourist, identified by authorities as R. Basavaraju.

As the animal bore down on him he tripped and fell, with his trousers sliding down his waist, before the elephant walked over him.

The creature then returned to the wilderness, leaving him splayed out on the road having fortuitously escaped being

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