BANGKOK (AFP) - A veteran performing elephant which appeared at the opening ceremony of the world AIDS forum here has become the main suspect in a murder inquiry, according to reports.
The elephant -- with a previous acting credit as an extra in Alexander the Great -- was tested by police for footprints after a worker at the conference centre was stomped and killed.
Absolute Handsome, 'Sud Lor' in Thai, used his trunk to grab Somsak Klangkaew, 55, before smashing him to the ground, according to the victim's brother.
"I ran towards the elephant when it released my unconscious brother and was poised to trample on him," Suchart Klangkaew, 40, was quoted as saying in The Nation newspaper.
The man in charge of the elephant show, Sompast Meepan, said Absolute Handsome, a 22-year-old bull, was a victim of mistaken identity and the real killer was a rogue beast.
"The elephant that killed the victim was a stray elephant who wandered on the roads near the conference centre but was not one of my elephants," he said.
Twenty elephants had been hired by the Thai government for the 15th International AIDS Conference at a cost of two million baht (50,000 dollars).
The conference, which has attracted 17,000 delegates, ends on Friday.
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