Bodies of suspected LTTE cadres recovered

Eight bodies that were washed ashore at Galle and suspected to be those of the LTTE suicide cadres, who carried out the abortive attack on the navy base there, are to be kept for seven days for possible identification.

Both Galle Additional Magistrate Kavindra Nanayakkara and Galle Chief Magistrate N. Hapuarachchi who held the inquiries on Thursday and Friday after the bodies were recovered have instructed that they be kept for about a week.

The post-mortems on the bodies now lying at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital morgue would be held thereafter, said Dr. Clifford Perera, Lecturer at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Ruhuna Medical Faculty who is also working with the JMO’s Office of the hospital.

Explaining the forensic aspect, Dr. Perera said following the blast, the bodies would have gone under water due to their weight but with decomposition taking place and the resultant release of gases the bodies might have re surfaced.

Four of the bodies found floating near the pier of the navy base on Thursday had been brought to the Karapitiya Hospital by the navy while the other four had been recovered from the sea at three different locations on Friday, said Dr. Perera who was part of the forensic team from the JMO’s Office which was present when Friday’s recovery was done.

Dr. Perera told The Sunday Times two of the bodies were at the pier itself where earlier four had been found, one was in the sea on the Galle Fort side near the High Court complex and the other was at Gintota.

Soon after the incident on Wednesday October 18, a 15-member team of doctors including Dr. Perera from Karapitiya, some medical students, nurses and minor staffers had gone to the camp and checked the premises thoroughly for those injured and dead. By that time, 28 casualties, 16 navy personnel and 12 civilians, had already been taken to the Karapitiya Hospital. One of the navy personnel was dead on admission, he explained adding that the hospital team which rushed to the camp assessed the situation and reported back to the hospital Director and Deputy Director.