(COLOMBO) -Three persons including two women and a 15-year-old male student were killed in separate incidents as inclement weather continued to affect several parts of Sri Lanka over the past several days, State relief officials said on Thursday.
They said a 15-year-old schoolboy died after being struck by lightning during a thunder storm inside his home at Batagoda Anguruwatota south of the Commercial capital Colombo on Wednesday night.
The two women both aged 21 years were killed after a landslide crashed on to their home in Uduwara, in Haliela some 348 kilometres from Colombo also on Wednesday.
The pair, identified as cousins, had been pulled out from under the rubble by Police and Army personnel, but succumbed to their injuries while under treatment at a local hospital, the officials said.
Landslides elsewhere in the country also blocked rail and road links between Colombo and the central parts of the country resulting in train and public transport delays.
Officials with the local National Building and Research Organization (NBRO) have warned of more landslides in 10 districts and the residents were urged to exercise extreme caution during wet weather.
The landslide prone areas were identified in the districts of Badulla, Ratnapura, Kandy, Kegalle, Matara, Gampaha, Hambantota, Kandy, Kurunegala, Matale, Matara and Nuwara Eliya.
“The public was also advised to take extra precaution to minimize damage that could be caused by lightning activity during thunderstorms”, a statement from the Meteorology Department said on Thursday.
