Government officials to treat elephant in LTTE area

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 June 2000, 12:03 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers gave permission to government officials to take steps to treat a wounded elephant lying in the jungles of Sagamam in the eastern Ampara district, ICRC sources said. The Sagamam area is under the control of the Liberation Tigers.

When the critical condition of the elephant was brought to the notice of the Ampara Government Agent, he took prompt steps to save the animal. As he was unable to send a team of officials to the spot, he immediately contacted the ICRC for necessary help to obtain permission from the Liberation Tigers, officials said.

The ICRC then contacted the LTTE and obtained permission for a team of officials to visit the scene.

Meanwhile the vessel 'City of Trinco' sailed from the eastern port of Trincomalee to Kankesanthurai, in the Jaffna peninsula, Friday afternoon with 388 passengers aboard, Divisional Secretariat sources said.

However, they said that it was not sure if the passengers taken in the vessel would disembark at Kankesanthurai or Point Pedro. The naval authorities will have to take a decision in this regard once the vessel reached northern waters, the sources said.

This is the second voyage of 'City of Trinco' from Trincomalee harbor. In its maiden voyage to Kankesanthurai about two weeks' back, the vessel took about 330 passengers. The vessel disembarked the passengers at Point Pedro, as the authorities found difficult to anchor the vessel at Kankesanthurai, sources said.

In the meantime, the passenger vessel 'City of Trinco' is also being used by the SLN to ship government troops from Trincomalee to the Jaffna peninsula.