"Until Sunday evening, the animals remained at the asphalted street in the complex," said Berton Panjaitan, a local resident.
The housing complex for teachers was located next to an oil-producing company, Chevron, he said.
The residents often saw the wild elephants coming to the area, Panjaitan said.
They passed by the street on Sunday morning and three of them remained there until Sunday evening. As a result, the residents were afraid to pass the street, he said.
"The adult elephant and its two babies remain there though the people have tried to chase them away by using bamboo sticks and lanterns," Panjaitan said.
Instead of going away, the elephants sat on the street. The people had reported this to the authorities of Riau natural conservation agency, he said.
The conflict between elephants and humans remains a serious problem to the people of Bengkalis.
In November 2010, for instance, tens wild Sumatran elephants had repeatedly invaded the Petani village, Mandau subdistrict, Bengkalis district for few days.
The wild elephants` presence had forced many of the villagers to stay home as working on their farms as usual had become risky.
The Petani village`s head, Rianto, said that situation had made his people stay at home rather than going to their farmings.
In June 2010, a herd of wild elephants also attacked Petani village, damaging four houses.
The wild animals also killed a resident recently. The villagers, whose houses were damaged, took refuge at their in relatives` houses and neighbors.
(T.E010/Uu.R013/H-NG/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
