Landmine injures two Vellaveli children

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2003, 03:00 GMT]
Arulanantham Diloshan (8) and Arulanantham Nilojini (6) were seriously injured when a landmine exploded while they were playing near their home in Liberation Tigers controlled Vellaveli in Batticaloa district Monday, sources said.

Vellaveli is located 40km southwest of Batticaloa town.

Both children have been admitted to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. Diloshan's one arm had to be amputated and Nilojini's injuries are also serious, said hospital sources.

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.