Dhaka - A herd of wild elephants trampled four people to death in a remote village in eastern Bangladesh, causing hundreds of families to flee their homes in panic, local officials and media reports said Saturday.

The victims were asleep in their mud hut when eight elephants rampaged through Tirer Deba village in the frontier hill district of Bandarban, the Bangladesh Observer reported.

"More than 100 families in the neighbouring hamlets fled their fragile huts for safety," village Mayor Kamal Uddin said.

Another person was killed by the elephants in the same village last week, he said.

At least 18 deaths from elephant attacks were reported in the past two months from Lama and Chokoria districts where the huge mammals had gone from the Naikhangchhari forest looking for food.

Farmers frequently complain of rampaging elephants destroying rice fields and flattening banana crops.

Bangladesh has a population of about 400 elephants protected under wildlife acts and nearly an equal number of captive elephants, government foresters said.

Wildlife officials have warned that expanding human settlements are encroaching on the natural habitat of elephants, increasing the chances of a direct confrontation with humans. (dpa)