A 43-year-old woman, who was hospitalised following the tragic bus accident in Ella, has become the 16th victim.

Nalani Gamage, a computer operator at the Tangalle Urban Council, passed away yesterday while receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the Badulla Teaching Hospital.

A magisterial inquiry and a post-mortem examination, conducted today by Acting Magistrate Ananda Moray and Special Judicial Medical Officer Dr. W.M.K.B. Wijethunga, revealed that the death was caused by serious head injuries sustained in the accident.

The body was transported to Tangalle by the Badulla Janaza Funeral Aid Society.

The society had previously provided free transportation for the bodies of the first 15 victims on the 5th of September.

M.S.M. Faizal, an organiser for the society, stated that the service is provided to all people in times of tragedy, regardless of ethnicity or religion.

The bus accident occurred on the night of September 4 when a bus carrying Tangalle Urban Council employees and their families on a pleasure trip plunged about a thousand feet down a precipice on the Ella-Wellawaya main road.

Police say three of the injured are still receiving treatment at the Badulla Teaching Hospital.