Morning fire guts SLMM's Mannar residence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 September 2005, 23:05 GMT]
An electric short circuit was blamed for an early morning fire Thursday that gutted the luxury house located along Field Road in Mannar town rented by members of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources in Mannar said. The short circuit was traced to an air conditioning unit in the basement of the house. Three members of the SLMM who were asleep escaped unhurt, Mannar police said.

Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on security duty at the Mannar district office of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), located close to the house rushed to the site on hearing cries for help, sources said.

One of the members of the SLMM had to be brought down from upper floor, Police said.

Major portion of the house, furniture and some documents were destroyed by the fire.