Over 700 families without power after speeding freezer truck wreaks transformer

A freezer truck transporting fish from Colombo to Mannar ran over a cyclist and smashed into an electrical transformer at Mudalakkuliya along the Anamaduwa-Chilaw Road this morning. 

The impact of the high speed crash was such that the concrete power poles that housed the transformer had crashed onto the truck and trapped the driver and his assistant inside the truck. The transformer had also exploded, but luckily, there was no fire as the power had been disconnected immediately, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) workers said. 

Miraculously, despite the seriousness of the crash, which had wreaked the truck completely, the truck driver and his assistant escaped unscathed, police said. 

The 70-year-old cyclist who suffered injuries was admitted to the Anamaduwa Hospital before being transferred to the Puttalam Hospital for further treatment. 

The destruction of the transformer however, left about 700 families in some 10 villages without power and the damaged caused to the CEB due to the crash is estimated to be over Rs. 3 million. 

CEB officials said they will take measures to reclaim the damages from those responsible for the crash. 

Anamaduwa Police said that the truck driver will be arrested over the incident. 

Text and Pix by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe