COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, April 18 (Reuters) - Wild elephants straying into a village trampled two nine-year-old children to death in southeastern Bangladesh on Wednesday, police and forestry officials said.

The victims, a boy and a girl, failed to escape when a herd of elephants swooped on their village near a forest at Ramu, 430 km (269 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka.

The elephants also destroyed five houses, uprooted trees and demolished standing crops.

At least 15 people are killed by elephants in Bangladesh each year as their forest habitats shrink due to encroachment by the rising human population, forest officials say.

One of the world's most densely populated nations, Bangladesh has forest cover of only 17.5 percent.

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