Drowning claim lives on Christmas Day and Boxing Day

A 15-year-old from Kadugannawa died after being drowned in Galboda falls in Nawalapitiya on Tuesday (26), Police said.

Two out of four boys who were bathing at the waterfall have drowned. One body was recovered and the other rescued boy is currently being treated at Nawalapitiya Hospital.

The lifeless body of a 42-year-old man was found floating in a canal in Meegalawa in Kurunegala yesterday (26), Police said.

A 22-year-old Policeman drowned while having a swim in the seas off Kalutara on December 25, Police said. 

He was off duty on the fateful day and enjoying sea bathing with his childhood friends. The body was found and taken to Kalutara Nagoda Hospital. Kalutara (South) police is conducting further investigation. 

The drowned body of a 61-year-old man from Thalawa was recovered from a canal near his residence, Thambuttegama Police said. 

A 44-year-old university senior lecturer who was being treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Balapitiya Base Hospital for over a week died on December 25. Buddhika Senerath Dassanayake, a senior lecturer in physics at the Peradeniya University drowned while holidaying in Ahungalla.

Both husband and wife drowned while bathing at sea near a leading beach hotel in Ahungalla they were in. Both were rescued but Mr. Dassanayake who was in a critical condition was rushed to the ICU. 

According to Sri Lanka Life Saving, annually over 1000 people die from drowning in the country.