Sixteen unidentified tsunami bodies to be buried
 

by Sandasen Marasinghe and Malmi Sellahennadi

Sixteen unidentified bodies of the December 26 tsunami victims are to be buried at the Jawatte cemetery on April 1, under the supervision of the Disaster Victim Identification Committee (DVI).

Chairman of the DVI, Edward Ahangama told the Daily News that there were 69 unidentified bodies presently lying in mobile freezer containers. The bodies will be buried at intervals at a special site earmarked at the Jawatte Cemetery.

Each body will carry a plastic tag with a distinctive number and the corresponding number on the casket. A photograph of the deceased taken at the time of the discovery, their clothes and whatever other possessions would be stored in a plastic bag and kept inside the casket.

A small monument will also be placed on the grave so that any claimant to a body could make an application for exhumation. Each burial will be accompanied by religious rites.

The bodies were handed over by the Meetiyagoda, Kirinda, Tissamaharama, Unawatuna and Peraliya Police.

The DVI activities are mainly funded by the British Government.