Lankan youth die in sudden fire at karaoke lounge in Busan, Korea:

Three childhood dreams go up in flames

By Manjula FERNANDO

Gemunu Jayakody of Gonapola, Kalutara aged 25 years, just began his life and thought he could be a lifeline to his family when the news of his selection for a Korean job under the Government quota scheme reached him.

Tilanga Shashika Sampath Jayasuriya was just 22 years when he travelled to South Korea in July 2010 looking for a lucrative job.

Gayan Chamara Attanayake called his family just one hour before his terrible end.

“How will I ever find a son like him. No father or mother in this world has a son like mine. He was the epitome of selflessness,” Gamini Rajapaksa Jayakody (50) wept as he described his son who died in South Korea in an unexplained sudden fire at a karaoke lounge in Busan last Saturday - on Vesak Full Moon Poya Day.

Gemunu Jayakody of Gonapola, Kalutara aged 25 years, just began his life and thought he could be a lifeline to his family when the news of his selection for a Korean job under the Government quota scheme reached him. But it suddenly came to a painful end, an unexplained tragedy. For his family the whole world has collapsed around them.

Gemunu arrived in Busan, some 700 km away from the capital Seoul in 2010 looking for greener pastures fulfilling a teenage dream.

“His biggest dream was to go abroad. He could not be satisfied by any of the good jobs he was selected to,” his father said. Although he was once selected to the Police Department and later the Commando Regiment of the Army, Gemunu’s heart was elsewhere and he did not pursue these opportunities.

His enthusiasm to secure the highly competitive Korean employment was such that Gemunu made sure that he was one of the top scorers at the Korean language exam that year. He had scored almost 100 marks, according to the father.

The youngest of a family of three children with an elder sister and a brother, both still unmarried, Gemunu was determined to find a well paid job. He studied up to GCE Advanced Level at Palannoru Madya Maha Vidyalaya and was looking for an opportunity to go abroad.

He finally departed on July 21, 2010 along with a group of other boys to work in a Korean factory associated with manufacturing vehicle parts.

The father, a retired serviceman, could not comprehend what happened to his son. “I cannot understand anything. How this fire broke out is a mystery. There has been no explosion or anything.”

His friends told the father that Gamunu escaped the blaze and came out of the building but he had gone back inside to save his two friends.

The three friends joined in their last journey. Tilanga, Gayan and Gemunu

The bodies being handed over to the next of kin at the airport

Pix: Kumarasiri Prasad -Airport cor.

My son had heard his friends calling his name. He had heard their cries for help, saying they were still inside and could not breathe. The lifeless bodies of the three boys had been found in the same position where Gemunu was seen dragging his friends out.

“I have been told that a power failure inside the building had caused the doors to shut automatically, blocking their escape route.”

Jayakody said he was hopeful that the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau would inquire whether this was the cause for their sons’ untimely death.

“This is his style. He would be the first to volunteer when somebody is in distress. He had saved lives of several people in the village. He is the first to go and last to leave a person in distress and before leaving he makes sure that everything is alright.”

He sent every cent he earned to us. I can’t believe he’s gone, the father said adding that his son was happy but he often complained that work was hard. His parents had sent him Ayurvedic medication for an ailment that gave him pain in one of his hands.

The Foreign Employment Bureau and the Consular division of the Foreign Ministry confirmed that the three young men had died due to smoke inhalation and not due to burn injuries.

Tilanga Shashika Sampath Jayasuriya

Tilanga Shashika Sampath Jayasuriya was just 22 years when he travelled to South Korea in July 2010 looking for a lucrative job. He had been married for nearly three years then. His dreams were of a more mature nature. Despite the young age, and a married man, he wanted to look after his young wife and make sure they had a proper place to stay to welcome a new addition to the family.

“I was to retire from CTB after 55 years last January. My son wanted me to stay home. But I applied for an extension of two years,” Tilanga’s father Bandaranaike said with tears. “My son would never have expected to go like this. He wanted to look after all of us.”

On Vesak day it had been his night shift, so there was no call from him. He used to Skype every evening for hours and speak to his wife, mother and sister. Tilanga and his first cousin,(mother’s sister’s son) were sharing a hostel room in Busan. It was he who had to communicate the terrible news to the family.

Gayan Chamara Attanayake

For the family of Gayan Chamara Attanayake, 28, of Morawaka, Matara, his sudden demise is an unbearable pain. More than everything he was the only child of the family and it had been barely six months since he left home for Busan, pursuing the dream of his destiny.

Gayan called his family just one hour before his terrible end. He had spoken, unusually long this time, alternatively with his mother, father, grandfather and uncle. He told his uncle that he was keeping fine and Busan looked lovely in this time of the year.

His uncle Dissanayake who spoke to the Sunday Observer about his nephew’s sad death said, Gayan obtained the highest marks from Matara district in the Korean language exam held by the Government.

Gayan’s family and relations together organise meals for the people observing Sil at the village temple every Vesak.

“He sent money for the ‘Heel Dane’. He was particularly anxious to know if the toffees he sent from Korea were distributed among the children at the temple,” Dissanayake said. Gayan did his secondary studies at the Matara Rahula Vidyalaya. He was a bright student at the time and a member of the Hockey team.

His dream had been to travel to Japan, but destiny flung his course to South Korea where he met his two friends who joined him in his last journey.