Mannar boat accident victims returned to their families

The bodies of five persons who drowned after their boat capsized in the seas off Vanathavivu in Puttalam have been returned to their families following the postmortem examination.

Police say that none of the victims were wearing life jackets. The boat carrying a group of people on a sea excursion had capsized in seas coming under the purview of the Navy post in Palugahathurai. The Police say that the vessel was an ordinary fishing boat with a passenger capacity of four.


However, the police say that there were 18 people aboard. The Police say that the Chief Petty Officer of the Navy post in Palugahathurai and a group of relatives were aboard the vessel The victims are all residents of the Thalangama North area in Battaramulla. Three of the victims were women and a small girl was also counted among the victims.

One of the women, thirty-six-year old Champika Shiromani was the wife of a naval personnel who was also killed.Their daughter, four year old Viruli Ranulya, also drowned. Nineteen-year-old Chathurika Sunashini, forty-seven-year-old Lalani Gomes and fifty-seven-year old Dayananda Perera were the other victims of this accident.

Two women who were injured in the incident have been hospitalised.Police said that one of the women is being treated at the Puttalam Hospital while the other was admitted to the Mollikulama Navy Hospital.