The Elayapattuwa Police said that due to a fire that broke out in a house at Maankadawala, Elayapattuwa, the burnt bodies of a mother and her two children of the same family were discovered yesterday (27) morning, in a room of the house and that the father who suffered burn injuries is receiving treatment at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital.
According to the police those who died due to burn injuries are Nishanthi Hemalatha (33) resident at Mahamankadawala, and her 10-year-old daughter, Jayaratnage Hasanka Prabodhini and five year old son Jayaratnage Vinuja Navodh Jayaratne.
Father Samantha Jayaratne aged 37 who suffered burn injuries was admitted to the emergency treatment unit of the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital as a result of burns on hisarms.
Police suspect that the fire broke out on Thursday between 11.45 and 12.30 at night and Assistant Superintendent of Police Sanjeewa Mahanama together with a team of officers who
had gone to the house due to a complaint received on Police Emergency Number 119, had inspected the house.
When the fire was spreading, a neighbour living in the front of the house had heard shouting from that area and informed the police and then yelled for villagers and doused the fire.
However, by then the mother and two children had by then sustained severe burn injuries while on their beds and died on the spot, the police said. According to neighbours ten-year-old Hasanka who died in the fire had passed the scholarship examination with extremely good results which had been issued day the before yesterday. The little boy Vinuja who succumbed to his burn injuries had been counting the days until next year when he could enter Grade One and was a pre-schooler.
Samantha Jayaratne, the father, of the two children who suffered burn injuries and is receiving treatment while hospitalized had served in the army for a while but quit and engaged in selling
fish. The deceased mother had remained at home caring for the two children. Postmortems were to be carried out subsequent to the Magistrate’s inquiry being carried out.
A team of police officers including Inspector M. M. N. Ranjith Bandara are carrying out further investigations into the incident, under the guidance of Assistant Superintendent of Police Sanjeewa Mahanama in charge of Elayapattuwa on the instructions of SSP Jayantha Pushpakumara in charge of the Anuradhapura Division.
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