2 missing after navy attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two fishermen went missing in the sea after an attack by the Sri Lankan Navy on a group of fishermen in the seas off the Mullaithivu coast in the early hours of the morning today. Most fishermen had sped back to the shore as the Navy had opened fire.

It was later found that two of them, Thiruchelvam Kirupakaran displaced from uduththurai in Vadamaradchi east on the southeastern coast of Jaffna, and Philippaiah Yogarajah displaced from Vettilaikerni in the same region were missing.

Several fishermen searched the sea in their boats for their missing colleagues until this evening without success. The two are presumed dead in the SLN attack.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan state media said that the SLN had engaged a group of Sea Tiger boats and destroyed five of them this morning.