Army Troops Recover Remains of Employee Buried Alive
Troops of the Security Force Headquarters - West (SFHQ-West) in response to an SOS request of a private company which stores imported seed lentil (dhal) in Pattiwila, Kelaniya area, promptly assisted the recovery of the remains of an employee buried alive inside a mound of seed lentil and debris after one of the 90 ft high storing silos accidentally exploded on Tuesday (10) night.
The employee, Udara Harshaka Sanjeewa (24) of Ethimale had been on duty around the exploded silo at the time of the tragic accident and all attempts of his fellow-workmates, together with neighbours, failed in tracing the victim who remained buried alive in the 60 ft high heap of lentil seeds and debris of the exploded silo.
A relief team of the 581 Brigade, including 1 Field Sri Lanka Engineers and Headquarters Sector 8 at Sapugaskanda on the directions of Major General U.A.B Medawela, Commander, SFHQ-West, rushed to the scene around 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday (10), following a request while futile efforts to rescue the victim were still on into the small hours on Tuesday (10).
However, the Army rescue teams, using an excavator and two bachoes early this morning (12) around 4.50 a.m. managed to recover the remains of the victim. Similarly, a Police team too was working round the clock in search of the missing victim after the explosion occurred.
At the time of the explosion, reports confirmed that more than 7000 tons of seed lentils had been kept stored in the affected silo which was allegedly not maintained properly, according to the Police.
