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Sri Lanka Army

Defender of the Nation

Published on - 1/4/2005

SRI LANKA WORST AFFECTED

All tri-service and Police personnel in co-ordination with civil authorities, despite heavy constraints, are still engaged in rescue and relief operations after a devastating tidal wave that commenced Sunday (26 December 2004) morning affected almost the entire coastal belt of the country within minutes.

By 10.00 p.m. Sunday night, a total of 2425 civilians, 32 Army personnel including one Senior Officer, 9 Naval personnel and a few Policemen were confirmed killed after gushing tidal waves swayed them unexpectedly and swiftly into the swelling seas or elsewhere bringing an instant death to them. Twenty Army soldiers had gone missing and another two hundred and five Army soldiers had received injuries following those disastrous tidal waves. A few thousands of passengers and others, according to reports reaching Colombo, were believed to have gone missing after they were caught in gushing tidal waves. Fifteen sailors including one officer have reportedly gone missing with no trace of their whereabouts at the time this report was compiled. The unprecedented magnitude of the natural disaster took the nation by surprise as news broke out and electronic media went to town with horrifying sights of devastation and havoc. The exact estimate of the damage to human lives and property is yet to be confirmed, though the number displaced following this disaster has risen to over one million.

All helicopters, light aircrafts and fighting aircrafts were immediately deployed to airlift, launch rescue and relief operations and provide cooked meals to thousands of those stranded in nearby schools, temples, churches, public buildings and community halls. Rescue missions have so far airlifted over 60,000 packets of cooked meal to those stranded by late in the evening as water started receding in many affected areas.

Galle, Trincomalee, Tangalle, Hikkaduwa, Matara, Ampara, Jaffna, Batticaloa are among a few major towns, worst affected as tsunami tidal waves triggered off by a massive earthquake off Indonesia swept through the South Asian region this morning. Kalkudah Army Brigade Headquarters, Nagar Kovil, Point Pedro, Manalkadu, Mankerni, Kayankerni, Kinniya are among major Army installations which have been either totally washed away or partly devastated bringing death to many Army personnel. Colonel W. M. S Gunaratne, Brigade Commander 232 Brigade in Kalkudah along with his son and over six Army personnel fell victim to the waves after they encroached the entire Brigade headquarters.

Reports further confirmed that some foreign tourists were believed to have been killed or gone missing from popular tourist resorts in Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Tangalle, Nilaveli, Kalkudha and Trincomalee.

Naval bases at Galle, Trincomalee, Kankesanthurai, Matara and Tangalle were totally submerged. Several friendly nations, including India have already consented to provide humanitarian relief to Sri Lanka in view of the magnitude of the catastrophe.

All armed forces and the Police as well as Government Officials have been called out for service after a national disaster contingency plan was put into effect by the government immediately as the situation was getting worse. Divisional Secretaries in liaison with armed forces and the Police effected relief measures to the best of their ability though power supply to affected areas remained disrupted with no fuel available for vehicles.

Several passenger trains, at least more than fifty buses were also caught in tidal waves, forcing some of them to turn turtle with passengers inside. Health officials appealed to medical staff to volunteer at this hour of need as decomposed bodies began to heap and casualties rose. Emergency relief units have been set up throughout the island in order to provide much-needed assistance to affected families.

Several Ministers, Defence Secretary Major General Asoka Jayawardene (retd), Tri-service chiefs, headed by Chief of Defence Staff are already monitoring developments in affected areas in their attempts to streamline and provide relief operations. Earlier during the day, Hon. Prime Minister Mr Mahinda Rajapakse flew to worst affected areas and saw himself the extent of the damages caused by the natural disaster after he had an emergency meeting with relevant authorities. Sri Lanka Army calls upon all Sri Lankans and Friends based overseas to come forward at this critical juncture of our contemporary history and extend their humanitarian assistance to those affected families.