A circus elephant came to the aid of city chiefs in southern Bangladesh after they were ordered to demolish illegal buildings without heavy equipment.

Discovering that there were no bulldozers available, officials decided to employ a pachyderm from a travelling circus to help do the work.

"We didn't have any bulldozer to conduct the demolition drive in the city so our officers had to hire an elephant from the circus," said Barisal city corporation chief executive Abdul Mannan.



©AFP
Bangladeshi labourers direct a circus elephant as it demolishes an illegal construction in Barishal. The circus elephant came to the aid of city chiefs in southern Bangladesh after they were ordered to demolish illegal buildings without heavy equipment.

Officials asked the animal's mahout (driver) to have it to shake the flimsily-built structures which were quickly reduced to rubble. Workers with pickaxes then finished off the job.

Bangladesh's new interim government has ordered the removal of all illegally-built structures as part of a major corruption crackdown before holding elections.

The nationwide drive began late last month but demolition crews had now moved into high gear, officials said.