More than 300 Army Troops with Sniffer-Dogs Now at Aranayake & Bulathkohupitiya
Sniffer-dogs and rappelling teams of Army Commandos, Engineer and Medical Corps troops, heavy machinery, additional equipment, together with a contingent of more than 281 troops of Commandos, 4 Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment and 8 Vijaybahu Infantry Regiment under the command of Major General Kavinda Gunawardene, General Officer Commanding, 58 Division of the Security Forces Headquarters-West have now reached landslide-affected Siripura, Elangapitiya, Pallebage villages in Aranayake area for immediate search, rescue and relief operations which remained hampered for some time due to swelling waters and torrential rains.
Those operations commenced during the wee hours on Wednesday (18) are continuing with the support of villagers, other volunteer teams and hospital staff who have by now brought more than six ambulances to the affected area for evacuation of the wounded to hospitals. The area remains under a pall of thick mist with rainy clouds, diminishing visibility and physical movements.
Meanwhile, another similar disaster has been reported from Kalupahanawatte, Bulathkohupitiya where 6 line houses in a 12 house row had been completely destroyed in a landslide that took place early Wednesday (18) morning. More than 53 Sri Lanka National Guard troops under the command of Brigadier P.J Gamage, General Officer Commanding, 14 Division are now at the venue in order to carry out required operations.
By 7.00 a.m, troops estimated that at least 16 persons in those destroyed houses have gone missing inside mass of soil that accompanied the landslide. Reports also confirmed that 6 females, resident in those damaged houses however managed to escape their lives with a few of their belongings.
