Vellaveli child injured by landmine, dies

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2003, 13:19 GMT]
Arulanantham Diloshan (8) who was injured Monday when a landmine exploded while he was playing near his home in Liberation Tigers controlled Vellaveli in Batticaloa district succumbed to his injuries Thursday night at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, according to Hospital sources.

His sister, Arulanantham Nilojini (6), is still in the hospital recovering, Hospital spokesperson M.Devarajan further said.

Vellaveli was under Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupation for a number of years before it was captured by LTTE in 1995. The displaced residents of this village have only recently been returning to resettle. The landmine is likely to have been buried by the SLA and that there could be several such devices in some parts of Vellaveli, villagers said according to sources.