Boy dies, girl hurt as bus rams checkpoint

Several garment factory workers injured:

Incident creates tense situation:

Yasaratne GAMAGE

A 14-year-old boy died and a 16-year-old girl was injured when a bus crashed into a police checkpoint at 87th Junction on the Habarana-Kantale Road yesterday. Several garment factory workers in the bus and a policeman were also injured in the incident.

Kantale HQI CI Nimal Bandara said that G K Lakshan Sewwantha had died while being taken to hospital while G K Chalani Sewwandi who had fallen into a nearby culvert was critically injured and admitted to Kantale Hospital. They were going to a private class at the time of the mishap. The incident created a tense situation among the crowd who tried to set fire to the bus which was prevented by Kantale Police.

The bus was however damaged as the crowd pelted stones at it. Investigations are continuing.