2 drown in Thambuttegama irrigation canal

Two individuals died yesterday (18) while bathing in an irrigation canal of the Nallachchiya Tank in Thambuttegama, police state.

The deceased are Dhanushka Udayanga (29), a school teacher from the Ikiriwewa area in Thambuttegama, and Heshan Dasun, an Advanced Level student at a well-known school in Anuradhapura.

Both victims went to bathe in the canal supplied by the Nallachchiya irrigation system yesterday evening after concluding tuition classes, police report. After drowning and being swept away by the current, bystanders bathing approximately three hundred meters downstream spotted and recovered the first individual.

Following the recovery of the second person, both were transported to the Thambuttegama Base Hospital in a private lorry. Hospital sources confirm both individuals were dead on arrival.

The teacher's remains lie at the Thambuttegama Base Hospital, while the student's remains are at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital, police note. Thambuttegama Police conduct further investigations.