Monkeys invade tea estate in India

Monkeys invade tea estate in India

CALCUTTA : Hundreds of hungry monkeys have invaded a sprawling tea garden in eastern India, chasing petrified workers and damaging machinery, the estate manger said on Tuesday.

More than 200 monkeys from a nearby forest have made the estate in the tea-rich Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal state their new home, forcing 1,700 workforce to lock doors and move in groups while plucking tea leaves.

"It's really worrying. Workers are terrified as monkeys are even going into the creche of the estate and snatching food from their children," Shantilal S. Pandya, the garden's general manager, told Reuters by phone.

The monkeys have injured one person and hit output at the garden, which produces around 1.1 million kg of tea a year. Pandya said the garden's management was hesitant to use force to evict the monkeys as many workers revere the Hindu monkey-god, Hanuman.

"We cannot hurt the monkeys because of the sentiments of the labour force. We have asked forest officials and local environmentalists to help solve this monkey crisis." Reuters

;REUTERS; ANPAi..r.. Odd-Germany-underpants Flying underpants cause crash JP/2/German

Flying underpants cause crash

BERLIN: A pair of flying underpants caused a crash on a German highway when they landed on a driver's face and blocked his view, police said on Tuesday.

A police spokesman in the central town of Gotha said one of a group of naked men in a van threw the underwear into a Volkswagen Passat as they passed it on a busy stretch of one of Germany's notoriously speedy autobahns.

"The underpants landed on the driver's face, causing him to ram the truck ahead from behind," said the spokesman, adding that he did not know why the men were driving along naked.

No one was hurt in the crash, but police are hunting the owner of the underpants for failing to stop at the scene. Reuters