Victim of gas explosion files lawsuit claiming damages

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
A woman who suffered severe burn injuries from a gas cooker explosion filed a lawsuit before Colombo District Court claiming damages.

The plaintiff Anoma Wasanthi, a resident of Madapatha filed the case against the gas seller and the gas cooker agent. She has claimed Rs.4.5 million as damages.

When the matter came up for trial, the victim told the District Judge that she instituted this action in the Colombo District Court on the advice of a Specialist Doctor who treated her in hospital. The witness made this assertion before the District Court giving evidence led by Senior Counsel Ian Fernando with Counsel Sumudu Ratnayake and Chatura Herath.

The witness, giving evidence during the trial said that she sustained burn injuries when she attempted to ignite the gas cooker that she bought from a dealer in Keselwatte. 

She also said that when she tried to switch the ignition switch there was a sudden eruption of flames with a loud noise. The flames reached her knees and was seriously burnt as a result of the near explosion of the gas stove.
She also said that she had complained to the dealer and some top officers of the manufacturer who visited her to inquire about the incident.

Senior Counsel Ahmed Nadvy Bahaudeen appearing on behalf of the first defendant in cross examining the victim asked why there were differences of facts in the statements given by the witness to the police and to the hospital authorities.

The witness answering the Counsel told that after the incident when she was taken to the hospital and she was in a state of shock and there would be slight differences in her statements to the police and to the hospital.

The victim had complained to the Consumer Affairs Authority and filed this lawsuit in the Colombo District Court for the recovery of Rs. 4.5 million from the dealer and the agent. However, the gas-cooker agent and the dealer have denied any responsibility, saying the gas cooker was in good working condition and the explosion might have been the result of mishandling of the gas cooker.
Further hearing postponed for August 20.