2ND LEAD

Southern construction workers massacred in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 April 2007, 09:07 GMT]
Six Sinhala construction workers were massacred and one Sinhala and two Tamil workers were seriously wounded when unknown attackers with guns entered a children home under construction and took them 200 meters away and shot the workers, police said. The massacre took place 300 meters from the Sri Lankan counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) camp at Mailampaaveli, 8 km north of Batticaloa city around 7:40 p.m. Sunday.

The victims were identified as Welage Chandrasiri, 42, from Kelani, T.M. Dhanapala, 54, and his 18-years old son Dhanapala Wijetunga from Mahoya, T. Wijakon, 24, from from Mahiyangana and two brothers from Kurunagala, L.M. Dayananda Kapporal, 33, and Maduranga Kapporal, 30.

V. U. Nandanage, 41, from Welimada and two Tamils, Indran Pirapaharan and Maduramuththu Nagarasa from Savukkadi were wounded and admitted to Batticaloa hospital.

They were hired to construct a children home, named Village of Hope, capable of housing 40 children.

The attackers had first shot at the electricity transformer rendering it useless before cutting and shooting the victims to death, saying that they are STF troopers, according to local sources.

The workers had been staying for the last one and a half years, engaged in constructing the children home for Village of Hope organisation which takes care of the tsunami affected children and widows.

Six mothers and 40 children are in this children home run by Village of Hope where English and computer classes are held along with normal educational activities.

This children home is located between Mylambaveli STF camp and Eravur police station, about one km from the Muslim area of Eravur.

The bodies of the victims were brought to Eravur hospital Sunday night and are to be taken to Batticaloa Teaching hospital for inquest into deaths.

Thereafter they are to be taken to Polanaruwa where they will be sent to the respective places of the victims, hospital sources said.

Eravur Police is conducting investigations into the massacre.