Search for missing persons to resume in Vadamaradchchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 January 2005, 13:02 GMT]
Search for missing persons in last week Tsunami is to resume Sunday in the fishing hamlets of Munai, and Katkovalam in the Vadamaradchchi North division following the retrieval of two bodies, one of an old woman and another of a boy by a group of volunteers of Danish De-mining Group (DDG) Saturday.

Mr.Thuraiveerasingham ( Thambi Thillai Muhilan )

Search operation came to a halt in these areas following reports that anti-personnel mines were found floating in the water after Tsunami hit the coastal belt last Sunday. Officials of DDG denied that reports and said that the area in question had been cleared of mines.

Volunteers of DDG Saturday conducted search operation in Munai and Katkovalam areas and recovered two bodies of missing persons. Now members of fisheries society of the area Saturday decided to resume the search operation for missing persons, sources said.

In another interesting development, in some instances in Maruthankerni village in Vadamaradchchi east division domestic dogs had successfully led search teams to recover bodies of their masters trapped under the rubbles of collapsed buildings, debris and buried in sand hill, said Mr.T.Thuraiveerasingham.

Mr.Thuraiveerasingham, a well-known Tamil poet and popularly known as 'Thambi Thillai Muhilan' Tamil literary circles returned Trincomalee after three days in Maruthankerni having attended the burial of his relatives who were killed in Sunday Tsunami. Mr.Thuraiveerasingham rushed to Maruthankery soon after Tsunami to see his relatives where he found several of them dead and missing.

He said several unidentified women were buried with out removing gold jewelleries from their bodies and a lot of people of the village on Sunday took the sound of tidal waves as of a Kifir jet plane hovering the area.