Kinniya ferry tragedy claims another victim; death toll increases 7
COLOMBO – A six-year-old girl who was in intensive care following Tuesday’s (23) fatal Kinniya ferry accident, succumbed to her injuries Sunday (28) morning, taking the death toll to seven.
The police confirmed the 6-year-old girl, who was being treated at the intensive care unit of the Trincomalee general hospital, succumbed to her injuries early Sunday.
Six people including four children were killed when the ferry transporting residents and school children across the Kinniya lagoon by the Kurinjankarni bay, capsized in Kinniya, in the early hours of Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Nihal Talduwa said 25 to 35 passengers had been on-board the ferry.
Eight rescue teams were deployed by the Sri Lanka Navy in a search and rescue operation, which was called off late Tuesday, after 20 passengers were recused, 17 of who were hospitalized with injuries, including the 6-year-old who as admitted to intensive care unit.
Among the dead reported on Tuesday were a 70-year-old male, a 30-year-old woman and her two children – son age 6 and daughter aged 3 1/2 years – and two sisters from the same family.
A tense situation was reported in Kinniya following the incident Tuesday, with the public clashing with the police, while protesting against the incompetency of the authorities. News footage showed angry residents burning tyres outside the Kinniya Divisional Secretariat office. Local media reports said the Kinniya house of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) MP M.S. Thowfeek, had also been attacked by the residents.
The police later arrested four people over the incident, including the Kinniya Urban Council Chairman, who is alleged to have provided a permit to operate the ferry; the owner of the ferry and two ferry operators. They have been remanded until December 8 by the Trincomalee Magistrate.
-ENCL