More fatal road accidents

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

Several fatal road accidents were reported last week where passengers and bystanders near highways were killed and maimed due to reckless driving of motorists. Even an old woman sleeping at her home was not spared, the Police Media Spokesman, Superintendent of Police Prishantha Jayakody told the Sunday Observer.

A fatal accident occurred opposite the Sambodhi College at Pethiyagoda when a lorry travelling towards Colombo from Kelaniya collided with a lorry travelling from the opposite direction and thereafter crashed into two houses by the road, killing a woman who was asleep in the house.

Two persons travelling in the lorry who sustained injuries were admitted to hospital.

The deceased woman has been identified as Abeysiriwardena Sumanawathie (75) of Biyagama Road, Pethiyagoda. The driver of the lorry was taken in for questioning by the Peliyagoda police following the accident.

Meanwhile a Puttalam bound train from Colombo ploughed into a three wheeler at a level crossing at Kattuwa, Negombo around 2 p.m. killing a young woman and injuring a 64 year-old-woman travelling in the three wheeler. The woman was admitted to the Negombo hospital. The deceased’s body is now lying at the hospital mortuary at Kochchikade.

The three wheeler driver who sustained serious injuries was transferred to the Colombo National Hospital from the Negombo Hospital. On the same day, the Bambalapitiya police found the body of a man in a three-wheeler at the three wheeler stand at Lauries Road, Bambalapitiya. The deceased was identified as N. Arumugam of Dodangoda. The Bambalapitiya police are conducting further investigations.