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Never in their wildest dreams

Unable to come to terms with the unexpected tragedy, friends and loved ones of the nature-lovers whose lives were blasted at Wilpattu ask – why?

By Esther Williams and Ayesha Inoon

Death was the price they paid for their love of wildlife. When the group of friends left Colombo on Friday, to embark on a safari at the Wilpattu National Park, close to Anuradhapura, they were not to know that this was to be their last journey.

Entrance of Wilpattu

Here, amidst the rugged beauty of the jungle they became unwitting victims of a cruel weapon of war, dying in the early hours of May 27, in a landmine explosion that hit the jeep they were travelling in across the park.

A mangled wreck: All that was left of the ill-fated vehicle

The mangled bodies of Nihal de Silva, Darrel Perera, Chandi and Anula Asirwatham, Nandana and Henrietta Abeysuriya and tracker Anura Dissanayake were discovered several hours later by a second group of visitors to the park who were on their way to the Kokkumootte river for a bath.

The shocked and grieving loved ones of those killed, struggle to come to terms with this terrible tragedy. They were parents, sisters, brothers, friends -- much loved and respected members of their community. How was it that these precious lives were taken away so cruelly?

Vajira: “It was the worst day of my life”

“It was the worst day of my life…….seeing all my friends dead. We grew up together,” said Vajira Wijayawardena who had known some of them for over four decades, having been to school with them. Vajira, a businessman, was a close friend of all three families and belonged to the same circle that met each Friday for a chat. In fact he was supposed to go on the trip with them and had his bags packed, but had to stay behind because of an urgent business matter.

Although two members of the group had been to Wilpattu earlier, it was the first time for the rest and Darrel Perera had made the booking at the bungalow located in a beautiful setting.

“As a group we enjoyed getting away from it all, relaxing and being close to nature,” said Vajira, who normally drove one of the vehicles on such trips.

As he was not going with them, the group had taken along Darrel’s driver and a helper. At the park gate, just minutes before entering, Darrel had called Vajira. “Why don’t you finish your work and come today or tomorrow?” he had asked. Apparently there was no mobile signal within the park and they had given him the park office number to call, should he decide to come so that they could meet him at the gate.

The bungalow is 54 kms away, at the other end of the park and it takes over one and a half hours to get there from the entrance. The park office communicates with those in the bungalow by sending a radio message.

Vajira did go to Wilpattu at about three in the afternoon on Sunday, May 28. But it was not to join them on safari but for a heart-rending task. “I and two family members of the deceased had to identify the bodies,” Vajira says, pausing to control his emotions. Their remains had been brought to the Wilpattu gate only about 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.

The huge crater created by the blast.

Vajira and the two others had also been given the IDs and belongings of the deceased, among which was a box with personal items. “One lady’s watch had stopped at 6.10 a.m. on Saturday,” he said.

Nihal de Silva, the renowned author of The Road from Elephant Pass which won the Gratiaen Prize in 2003, is remembered by his loved ones as the guiding force in his family. Known for his wonderful sense of humour and loving personality, he was the one they looked to when it came to making decisions in any crisis.

Formerly the proprietor of Water Mart Pvt. Ltd., Mr. de Silva used to describe himself as a “writer by accident”. After he handed over the enterprise to his sons, he turned to writing to keep himself occupied; becoming a literary success. Many of his books such as The Far Spent Day and the Ginirella Conspiracy reflect his love of wildlife. Not only children, but also adults enjoyed his series of stories 'Paduma's World', which appeared weekly in the Funday Times. At the time of his death, he was working on his fifth book.

A childhood friend of Anula Asirwatham sharing his thoughts about her and her husband, Chandi, both of whom went on the ill-fated trip, said Chandi was a ruggerite who played for S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia and CR & FC as a scrum-half. Career-wise he dabbled in automobile engineering, garment manufacturing and educational toys.

Chandi’s wife Anula, although initially a homemaker, subsequently kept herself occupied running a catering business. “They were warm and friendly,” he reminisces.

Rajkumari Amarasekera (Ungi) had known Darrel Perera and the others in the group for almost ten years. Darrel’s wife, Marina, and Rajkumari had been school friends. The fun-loving bunch would meet up at the 20th Century Club (now closed) almost every week. Come long weekends, they would go on trips to Yala, Nuwara Eliya, Weligama etc., or be at each other’s parties. “We would have been on this trip too had my husband recovered from his health problem,” she says.

They had last met on April 30 at the Golf Club for Rajkumari’s birthday. “Darrel was a philanthropist and also generous host who entertained in style,” Rajkumari recalls. He has helped many unfortunate people who needed assistance. “His love of life and of people was remarkable,” she adds.

It was just a short life together for Nandana and Henrietta Abeysuriya who married only last September. The Chairman of Expo Coffee Ltd., Nandana until recently was the Joint Managing Director of Nisol Corrugated Cartons Ltd. “He was a good man and he loved wildlife,” said Aloma Abeysuriya, his ex-wife.

Anura Dissanayake, 43, was an experienced volunteer tracker, who lived only about 2 kms from the park. As destiny would have it, it was he who accompanied the ill-fated group that morning. His young son and daughter were to wait in vain for his return that day. “He was a good and honest worker,” an official at the Wilpattu Park said.

The loved ones of those involved in the tragedy wonder -- Why do bad things happen to good people? Were they simply at the wrong place at the wrong time? Whatever explanations are offered, the pain, the anguish and the sense of unfairness cannot be taken away.

‘I will never go back to that park’

“We came across the terrible sight very suddenly,” says a person who was part of the group that came upon the blast site by chance while on their way to have a river bath.

Recalling her terror as she looked upon the two huge craters and the remains of the victims, she said, “The white sand had turned into ash. We immediately returned to the bungalow, packed in less than 10 minutes and travelled the 50 or so kilometres back to the wildlife office. We were frightened.”

It would be her first and last trip to the park, she said.

She also said that when they returned to their bungalow earlier in the day after an early morning safari, they were told that an explosion had been heard.

owever, they assumed it was somewhere else and did not worry about it. They had a leisurely breakfast and decided to go to the river. That was when they came across the blasted vehicle.

Trying to put together what had happened to his six friends and the tracker on that fateful Saturday, Vajira says, the group left on safari at around 5.45 a.m. The bungalow keeper, the driver and the helper were told to expect them back at 10.30 a.m. at the latest, for breakfast. They had not returned even by 12 noon. Around that time the bungalow received a radio message from the park office ordering them to evacuate immediately.

The driver along with the other two had taken the second vehicle and driven along the river. Nervous that they were exposed, they had locked up the vehicle, left it in the jungle and continued on foot. The bungalow keeper who knew his way around had led them through the jungle and through villages throughout the night and on to Maha Willachchiya where they reported their experiences, Vajira said.

Later army and police officials brought them back to the Wilpattu Park office, where they met Vajira.

‘Wildlife officials should have warned them’

Nandana Abeysuriya had phoned the park officials at Wilpattu and the Wildlife Conservation Department in Colombo the Tuesday before they left to confirm whether it was safe to go there only to be told that it was absolutely safe and there was no danger of any attacks, says Vajira, looking back at the period of preparation for the trip.

“The department which is aware of the ground situation should have warned people not to go,” he said. Like there are reports predicting bad weather, notices or red flags that indicate that the sea is dangerous, or steps to cordon off areas as high security zones, the department should have cautioned visitors or issued some kind of warning, he stressed.

The villagers in the area and most of the park employees were aware of the dangers and had informed the department, Vajira had gathered when he went to Wilpattu. The permanent trackers had refused to go into the park and that was why voluntary tracker, Anura, was assigned. “Why did the department ignore the problem?” asks Vajira.
Vajira, however, commends the salvage operations.

They had to proceed with caution, clearing areas as they went. “The team worked relentlessly. Till the last they expected at least one survivor. Without their help we would not have been able to get the remains of our friends.”

“The people who have died have contributed to society and the betterment of the country in some way. They don’t deserve to have died in this manner,” Vajira reflects. “They were intelligent people who would not have gone there to commit suicide had they known of danger there.”

Vajira feels that the department should have been more responsible. “At the end, four families are left with one parent or no parents, all because wildlife officials withheld vital information.”

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