• Victim admitted to hospital on Sep. 08 following heart attack
• RAT report was negative on admission

By Sheain Fernandopulle   

The body that was recovered from a 40-foot-deep water tank at the Gampola Hospital was not of a COVID-19 patient but instead was of a heart patient, a spokesperson of the Hospital told the Daily Mirror yesterday.   

Responding to media reports which stated that the victim was a COVID-19 patient, the spokesperson of the Gampola Hospital who is a medical officer himself said the victim was admitted to the hospital following a heart attack and not with the COVID-19 virus. 

 
“The victim was infected with the COVID-19 a month ago but he had fully recovered from the virus. He was rushed to the Gampola Hospital after suffering a heart attack and a rapid antigen test conducted on him upon admission confirmed that he was not infected with the virus at the time of the admission,” he stated.   

“However, people from the hospital consumed the water supplied from the particular water tank from where the victim’s body was found,” he said.   

When questioned from the hospital spokesperson whether the COVID-19 could spread through the water since the victim had been infected even a month ago, he said the virus did not spread through the water.   
Meanwhile, Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa told the Daily Mirror that the victim who was a Sergeant attached to the Kotmale Police Station had gone missing since the day he was admitted to the hospital on September 8.   

“A team of Police officers arrived at the location after they were notified that a stench was coming from the tank where they found the dead body after 52 days, on October 29,” he explained. 

 
However, it is yet to be determined whether the dead body had been inside the tank for 52 days or not.   
“The post-mortem was carried out on October 30 where the cause of the death had not been specified,” SSP Thalduwa underlined.   

“Therefore, the victim’s body tissues were directed to Government Analyst for further inquiry,” the Police Spokesman added.   

In addition, he said the police is also carrying out further investigations in order to find out as to whether it was a suicide attempt or something else.

• A team of Police officers arrived at the location after they were notified that a stench was coming from the tank where they found the dead body after 52 days, on October 29
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