Two civilians dead, two injured in mine blast in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 17:59 GMT]
Failure to remove land mines and explosives in Thanangki’lappu in Thenmaraadchi where resettlement of uprooted civilians was permitted by government authorities was the cause for the deaths of two family men Monday evening while seriously causing injuring two elderly men, when an explosive device went off, sources in Jaffna said. The authorities had permitted resettlement in Thanangki’lappu on the assurance of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Thenmaraadchi that the de-mining of the area had been completed.

The civilians, permitted to resettle in Thanangki’lappu, were clearing a land in preparation for a meeting for resettled persons to be held Tuesday when the mines exploded as they set fire to the waste material, the sources added.

The victims killed were identified as Kanesasabai Prathab, 29, who had come from Pa’ndaththarippu to resettle in his property and Subramaniam Ponsekar, 38, a hospital attendant at Manthikai hospital in Point Pedro, now a resident of Chaavakachcheari.

The two elderly men seriously injured in the explosion and admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital, are Thevathas Vivekananthan, 50 and Tharmathurai Vijayaratnam, 68.

The bodies of the victims are kept in Jaffna Teaching Hospital mortuary.