Stories of true humanity

By Hiranthi Fernando

Delayed duty for good cause

Cpl. R.P.R. Wick- ramapala of Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment was working as a dispatch rider at the Training Branch of Army Headquarters on January 31, 1996, the day of the Central Bank bomb blast. He was riding past the Bank, carrying some official documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when he heard gunshots.

"I was by the clock tower at the time," Cpl. Wickramapala recalled. "I immediately stopped, and left my bike with a sentry at the Navy headquarters nearby. As I looked towards the direction of the gunshots, there was a huge explosion.

I saw pieces of the building flying out in all directions and then black smoke enveloped everything in the area. I ran to the spot. People were screaming. There were dead and wounded lying on the ground. Those unharmed were running about in panic while others stood rooted to the spot."

It was a scene of great commotion and distress. All the while, debris from the building continued to fall. Cpl. Wickramapala, with his army training reacted fast. First, he got together some bystanders and carried out the injured from the ground floor to a spot by the Clock Tower, from where they were taken to the hospital. Next he and his 'assistants' went from floor to floor rescuing the injured.

By this time the lifts were not functioning. "We climbed up with difficulty, sometimes clinging onto pipes. We had to remove the debris as we climbed up the broken stairway. We managed to carry down several injured persons down the broken steps. Some were dead and others were badly injured.

A bus was commandeered and the injured sent to the hospital. The ambulances started arriving 15 or 20 minutes after the blast and then more helpers came on the scene," Cpl. Wickramapala said. He stayed to help carry the injured to the ambulances. After accompanying some patients to hospital, the corporal telephoned his office and explained the reason for his delay in delivering the documents and returning to office.

Cpl. Wickramapala said his superior officers had commended him for his actions. "Cpl. Wickramapala, who acted voluntarily with the sole intention of safeguarding the lives of personnel who were caught in the conflagration with little regard of the risk to his life and security showed conspicuous bravery, is recommended for the award of Weerodhara Vibushanaya", wrote Maj. Gen. A.G. Weerasekera in his recommendation. Cpl. Wickramapala received the Weerodhara Vibushanaya from the Army as well as the Weera Prathapa medal which is awarded by the state, from the President at a ceremony held in 1998.

Medals apart, this brave soldier reluctantly revealed that he was however, unable to get help to admit his daughter into a school at Kiribathgoda.

At the time, his daughter, who was studying in a co-educational school at Kiribathgoda, was due to go into Year 2. Cpl. Wickramapala had asked if she could be admitted to Vihara Maha Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Kiribathgoda. It was not a school that was in high demand.

But though the Defence Ministry and the Army Welfare gave him letters of recommendation, the school principal and the Education Department had not been sympathetic to his request. The reply of the Education Department officers was that children of Army personnel are only admitted in the first year.

No routine mission

It was a routine trip for Cpl. W.M. Karunaratne of 5 Vijaya Infantry Regiment, stationed at Welioya, to drive to Colombo with an officer twice a month to collect suplies. He was at the Ordinance camp at Maradana when the sound of the blast rent the air. The two of them rushed to the scene in the vehicle. "When we reached the scene of the blast, there was fire and smoke and lots of people milling around," Cpl. Karunaratne continued. "The injured were being taken out of the building. I could see there were some people trapped on the highest floor. The fire brigade was putting up a ladder to reach them but the ladder got stuck. There were about 15 people unable to come down. Some jumped and were killed or injured." Seeing the situation Cpl. Karunaratne swarmed up the cables of the machine, and managed to reach the top. "There was a disabled employee from Ceylinco who helped a lot with the rescue effort," he recalled. "Together we tore up the curtains and also found a length of rope. We helped them to climb down the rope. There were steps halfway down and people to help them the rest of the way." Then Cpl. Karunaratne saw below him on the sixth floor, two people with broken limbs at a window. Down on the road, rescue workers were holding a net for them, but they could not jump, with their injuries. At the same time, there were announcements asking them not to jump for if they missed the net, they would be smashed to death. At that point, an Air Force officer, who had managed to reach the top floor, came up to Cpl. Karunaratne. This officer held the rope, while Karunaratne climbed down to the sixth floor, amidst warning shouts from some colleagues who had gathered at the site. Cpl. Karunaratne fastened the two injured men to the rope and slowly lowered them down to the rescue workers, waiting on the ground. Two days later Karunaratne was back in Welioya. A Lance Corporal at the time of the incident, he was promoted to Corporal in recognition of his bravery. He was also recommended for the Weerodhara Vibushanaya, which he received from President Kumaratunga in 1998.

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