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Infant killed, four injured as car crashes into kumbuk tree
View(s):An infant died and four others were injured in an accident at Irrattakulum in Madampe when a car driven by an engineer veered off the road after headlights of an oncoming van blinded him, a Coroners Court inquiry was told this week. The victim one-year-old Nawanasa Navaneedan was travelling with her parents and two other relatives to Karainagar, Jaffna on the day of the accident.
The father of the child, S. Navaneendan, a Telecommunication engineer, said that that his wife and baby daughter, were joined by his brother-in-law and his wife on the trip to Jaffna. The group had left Dehiwela at around 9.00 pm.
Navaneendan said he was driving at a speed of 50 kmph and as they passed the Irrattakulum bridge in Madampe, a van with bright lights had come from the opposite direction blinding him and causing him to crash into a Kumbuk tree.
He said three men had rescued them after breaking open the locked doors and rushed them to the Chilaw hospital.
The baby was transferred to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital’s ICU but died the same night.
The post mortem inquiry held at the National Hospital’s mortuary by Judicial Medical Officer Dr. D.L.M.Samaranayake, stated that the death was due to severe head and spinal injuries.
Inquirer into sudden deaths, Ashroff Rumy stated that the vehicle had hit a tree resulting in the child receiving a heavy blow to the head, causing injuries both to her head and spine. (CS)