Friday, May 04, 2007

Torrential rains kills five - Colombo and Galle

Torrential pre monsoon rains yesterday, wrecked havoc in the Western, Southern and Sabragamuwa provinces killing five people and leaving many hundreds displaced.

In Colombo, two women died due to flash floods. One of them drowned in an uncovered water drainage at Wijerama Mawatha. The victim was reportedly fallen in to the drainage as the flash floods had made it invisible. Another woman was killed due to electric shock in Slave Island when she had touched an electrified lamppost. The victim had reportedly fallen into a pit covered with water and tried to get out holding onto a damaged lamppost. In Kirulapana lighting killed a man who was in the market last morning.

The Center for Disaster Management said two children have died due to an earth slip at Nagoda in Galle. The same sources further said that at least 250 people were displaced in the Galle district due to heavy rains.

Meanwhile, Two giant Vesak pandals in the Pettah near the Bo tree junction, at Borella junction, and at Grandpass collapsed due to rains and gale force wind.

In Colombo several roads were inundated and heavy traffic jam was seen at almost all entrances to the capital.

The Meteorological Department said the rains were caused by a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal and would continue until this noon.

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