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| Tuesday, 28 December 2004 |
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by Ranil Wijayapala The Security Forces and the Police in their massive search and rescue operations conducted in the tidal waves hit coastal areas in the country had recovered 6,364 bodies of victims by last evening, Military Spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake told the Daily News yesterday. Brigadier Ratnayake said the Security Forces personnel and Police were doing their best to recover the bodies of the persons and to assist the displaced persons in the disaster by providing cooked meals, medicine and other necessary facilities. He said in addition to the troops deployed in the coast belt of the country additional troops from Maduru Oya, Minneriya Army camps and from several training centres were dispatched to the affected areas to facilitate the relief work. "The Sri Lanka Army provided all the necessary food stocks which were available in the Army stores to provide cooked meals for the affected people", he added. "We have dispatched around 75 doctors and medical teams to North East and the Southern part of the country", Brigadier Ratnayake added. In addition Security Forces personnel were deployed to clear the road which became impassable after hit by Tidal waves. According to Security Forces personnel engaged in rescue operations the death toll in the disaster would be much higher than the estimated figures. The number of people who died in the LTTE controlled areas in Mullaitivu could be as high as two thousand with LTTE Sea Tigers announcing more than 1,400 bodies have been recovered from that area alone. Security Forces personnel engaged in rescue operations have to use bulldozers to recover the bodies of the victims in some areas as they have been buried in sand dunes in Hambantota area. According to the statistics available with the Army an estimated 7,361 people have died in the Ampara district alone. Air Force Spokesman Group Captain Ajantha Silva told the Daily News that they have deployed six Air Force helicopters and other transport aircraft have been deployed on rescue operations and to distribute food rations and other essential materials to the affected people. Navy Spokesman Commodore Jayantha Perera said they have deployed all their Naval boats for rescue operations in the North East and also in the South. The Sri Lanka Navy will be assisted by the Indian Navy by sending six Indian ships to Trincomalee, Colombo and Galle ports. |
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