Hindu religious festival descends into chaos after an elephant runs amok, hurting 13 people [Video]

A Hindu religious festival descended into chaos after an elephant in the procession ran amok and injured more than a dozen people in the crowd. 

Elephants covered in red, blue and gold robes from trunk to tail, were paraded in front of a large crowd at the Ruhunu Kataragama Perahera in Sri Lanka on Saturday while cymbals clanged.

But one of the elephants became panicked during the procession, wreaking havoc on the festival.

Video footage shared on social media showed an elephant keeper trying to pull the agitated animal by its tail in a desperate attempt to control it, while screaming devotees lining the street rushed to escape.

Thirteen people were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. They have all since been discharged.