SLFEB to pay compensation to next of kin of youths who died in Korea

Atapattu BANDARA

The bodies of three Sri Lankan youths who died in a fire which broke out in a Karaoke bar in Busan, South Korea will be brought to Sri Lanka around 1.25 pm today, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) chairman Amal Senadhilankara said.

Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera instructed SLFEB officials to take immediate measures to bring the bodies and make arrangements to pay compensation to the deceaseds' family members.

The three youths were identified as Thilanga Shashika Sampath Jayasuriya of Mahiyanganaya, Gayan Chamara Attanayake of Morawaka and Gemunu Jayakody of Piliyandala.

According to SLFEB sources the victims' families will be paid compensation as the youths were registered with the SLFEB. In addition the Bureau is exploring ways to get compensation to youths' families from the hotel where the accident occurred. If the hotel is covered by insurance, the hotel management will also have to pay compensation along with the companies the youths were employed in.

The company authorities where the youths were employed made financial arrangements to send the bodies to Sri Lanka immediately after the post mortem investigations. The fire which erupted at a Karaoke Bar in South Korea has killed nine people including three Sri Lankans and injuring 20 others.