7 June 2021 08:41 am Views - 153
By Samanwijeya Bandara
The death of four members of one family in the remote village of Karahagampita in Devanagala on the boundary of Aranayaka and Mawanella divisions last morning sent a shock wave across the area. Their house was located on land in the Aranayake division.
Torrential rain experienced in the area continually for several days resulted in the landslide that razed down a house with three members being buried alive. A huge mound of earth with boulders had rolled down the hill and hit the house without leaving any trace of it. The paddy fields in the surrounding area had submerged creating a vast expanse of water to a distance the eye could see.
The victims of the heartbreaking incident were Kankanamlage Wijeratne (57) Weerasinghe Pedilage Lalila Weerasinghe (55) their children Umesha Maduwanthi Wijeratne (23), and Kankanamlage Shanika Puspakumara (29). Umesha Wijeratne was a teacher in a private school in the Mawanella area while Shanika Pushpakumara who had been an expatriate worker in the Maldives had returned to the country recently to complete the building works in the house in a safer location. He had informed several masons and to commence work the next day.
The house hit by the landslide had been located on land at the foot of the historic Devanagala sacred area. Two other families in the endangered area were immediately evacuated and provided shelter in a safer location.
The police and the army with the help of the residents of the area launched a massive operation to clear the mounds of earth and rocks to trace the bodies of the victim amid torrential rain. It was with great difficulty that they found access for the back-hoes to reach the location. They took about six hours to trace the bodies one after another safely.