(COLOMBO) – Four Sri Lankan women were injured when a land mine exploded while they were clearing mines in Mankulam, Vavuniya on Thursday evening, police said on Friday.
Vavuniya is located some 265 north of the commercial capital of Colombo.
Police said the women, who were part of a non-governmental organisation, were engaged in unearthing mines buried by the now defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
They were initially admitted to the Mankulam Hospital and later transferred to the Kilinochchi Hospital for further treatment.
The injured women are between the ages of 39 and 43. The Thunukkai Police are carrying out further investigations.
The local authorities aided by foreign agencies have been deployed since 2009 to unearth thousands of land mines that were planted by the LTTE to slow down the final military offensive against their positions.
The fighting between the two sides ended in 2009 with the ultimate decapitation of the entire LTTE leadership along with their families.
