In what will come across as a really tragic development, Srikant Satre, a 23-year-old man has been trampled to death after he tried to take a selfie with an elephant.

Srikant Satre and two of his friends ventured into the Abapur forest close to the city of Gadchiroli in central India following reports that an elephant had been spotted nearby.

The workers were in the city, which is situated in the Indian state of Maharashtra, for cable laying work when they heard rumours from locals on Tuesday, October 22, that an elephant had been sighted nearby.

According to the Indian news website NDTV, the three friends agreed to go and find the animal when they weren’t working on Thursday morning, October 24.

Once they spotted the elephant, the trio decided to start posing for pictures with the wild animal.

It was at this point that the elephant charged at them and k!lled Mr Satre as he attempted to take a selfie with it.

The two friends managed to escape.