In video footage, it could be seen that one of the animal keepers at the show tried to control its agitated nose by pulling the animal's tail, police reported. Economics.is.
But his attempt backfired and the animal crashed into the crowd.
The injured had to be taken to hospital, but were released. The escaped animal was one of the elephants decorated with red, blue and gold robes in Hindu processions.
A video of the incident was also posted on social media, and the elephant can be seen at the end of it.
Elephants are considered sacred animals in Sri Lanka. However, animal rights activists object to their widespread use in religious ceremonies, and that laws against animal cruelty are rarely enforced.
There have already been several cases of elephants being let loose during parades accompanied by loud music and fireworks. Last August, for example, dozens of pilgrims had to jump into a lake in the popular tourist city of Kandy to escape five agitated elephants.
According to official data, about 200 domesticated elephants are kept in Sri Lanka, while another 7,500 live in the wild. Although the government has banned the hunting of wild elephants, dozens of elephant calves have been stolen in recent years, often by killing their mothers.
