|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Friday, 22 October 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
by Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh The four bodies of the Sri Lankan women who died in a road accident Sunday will be repatriated to Colombo on Sunday October 24. The mishap took place when a bus carrying 37 Sri Lankan women workers collided with an oil tanker in Aflaj, 350 kms away from the capital. Twenty of the 25 women who were admitted to the nearby Al Aflaj Government Hospital were discharged Wednesday and the others were transferred to the Riyadh Central Hospital, RCH. The dead included Preethika Priyangani - 699, Wekadawela South, Tangalle, Priyadarshini Perera, 1/10 Susantha Mawatha, Panadura, Anula Neelakanthie Dathumawathie; Tirikiwewa and Anushika Dilrukshi - Udukekirwela; Weeraketiya. The others who are still in hospital include Inoka Chaturanganie - 531, Yaya Road, Padalangalle, Embilipitiya, Rasika Sandamali - 149 Ambagaswatte; Wilbawa; Kurunegala, Gamage Chandrawathi - 106 Dambalagama Unaale, Palatuwa, Matara, Rangika Perera-1/10 Susantha Mawatha, Panadura and Malkanthi Kumari-Maha Kekirawa - Kekirawa. Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ibrahim Sahib Ansar told the Daily News that the bodies have been already dispatched to the morgue at Riyadh Central Hospital from Al Aflaj. He added that the mission is processing other formalities with the Saudi authorities to repatriate the bodies by Sunday. According to the envoy, some of the 37 Sri Lankan women were home-bound and the others were coming to Riyadh to go to different workplaces in the capital. They were recruited from Sri Lanka three years ago as hospital cleaners to Najran, a city located 1,300 kms away from Riyadh in the South-west of Saudi Arabia, for Al Majal Al Arabi Establishment in Riyadh. Ansar said that around 15 panic-stricken survivors have told the embassy that they would like to return home for good. "The mission will take over those women and repatriate them to Sri Lanka as soon as possible," the ambassador said adding that the others who were home-bound will be sent home by the next available flight. "The embassy is currently negotiating with the employer for necessary compensation for the next-of-kin of the deceased," the envoy said. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
