A passenger van struck an elephant in a Ugandan national park, killing three people and injuring four others, police said.

The crash happened on Sunday on a paved road inside Murchison Falls National Park, police said in a statement on Monday.

The van was transporting employees of the Uganda Revenue Authority travelling from a city in northern Uganda to Kampala, the capital.

After hitting the animal, the driver “subsequently lost control of the vehicle", the police statement said. “Motorists are strongly urged to exercise extreme caution while driving through national parks and wildlife-protected areas.”

Footage from the scene showed people in the damaged car crying for help while the injured elephant struggled to get up in a nearby bush. It wasn't clear if the elephant survived the crash.

Although these incidents are rare, they illustrate what conservationists describe as the human-wildlife conflict that can emerge in protected areas accessible to people.