• Victims include a 20-year-old woman and her two-year-old baby girl

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya

At least seven persons including a 20-year-old woman and her two-year-old baby girl died, and several others were hospitalised in drowning accidents while bathing in Peradeniya, Mullaitivu and Kuruwita on Sunday. 

Police said a group of persons who had come to bathe in the Mahaweli River in the Kalugamuwa area in Peradeniya had drowned on Sunday evening.

Residents of the area rescued a man and a boy and admitted them to the Gampola Hospital while three persons including a woman and her little girl went missing. They are feared drowned.

The body of a 20-year-old man was recovered and the Police lifeguards, Navy and locals launched search operations for the missing persons who are residents of Kandy.

Meanwhile, three youths who were bathing in the Mullaitivu beach on Sunday evening also have gone missing after being caught in a current.

Residents found the body of one person on Sunday while the bodies of two others aged 27, residents of Vavuniya had been found yesterday.

Mullaitivu Police are conducting further investigations.

Meanwhile, police said that one of the four persons who were bathing in the Gerandi Ella falls in Kuruwita had gone missing on Sunday.

The victim is identified as a 38-year-old person from Kuruwita.

• One of the four persons who were bathing in the Gerandi Ella falls in Kuruwita had gone missing on Sunday