Panicked soldiers shoot couple

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 March 2000, 18:05 GMT]
A couple who were returning home from the Jaffna hospital with their new born child in an auto rickshaw were killed when the vehicle was hit by SLA fire at Iththaavil, 3 k.m north of Pallai around 2.30 p.m. today. The driver of the auto rickshaw was also killed on the spot.

The woman's sister who was traveling with the family in the auto rickshaw was seriously wounded. The 4 day old infant escaped unhurt.

The Tamilnet's Jaffna correspondent who was among those who retrieved the injured girl and the infant from the carnage said that the child was splattered with the blood and flesh of its dead parents.

He said that Kumarasamy Sritharan, 40, his wife Sritharan Yogeswary,38, died on the spot. The driver of the three-wheeler was identified as Sivalingam Ganeshalingam, 24.

Sources said that panicked SLA troops at Iththaavil, fearing the LTTE's offensive turning in their direction from Pallai, appear to have opened fire on the auto rickshaw without halting and checking the vehicle.