9 Vaharai patients arrive in Batticaloa by boat

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 12:49 GMT]
Nine patients from besieged Vaharai in the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam controlled Batticaloa district were sent to Valaichchenai by boats for further treatment around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dr. T. Varatharajah, the sole physician serving at Vaharai Government hospital, said.

The patients, consisting 2 males and 7 females including 2 pregnant women, were received by the ICRC at Valichchenai around 3:00 p.m. Seven of them were sent to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and the rest admitted at Valaichchenai District Hospital, hospital sources said.

The patients sent from Vaharai are:

• Mrs. M. Luthradevi, 27, (pregnant),
• Mrs. V. Vimala,23, (pregnant),
• Miss. N. Piryatharshini, 18, (heart patient),
• Mrs. K. Amirthavahini, 30, (mental illness),
• Mrs. V. Theivanai, 48, (cancer patient),
• Mrs. I. Kohila, 41, (accident injuries),
• Mrs. I. Theivanaippillai,50, (neuro patient),
• M. Somasundaram, 80, (hernia) and
• S. Sivanathan, 65, (hernia)

Sri Lanka Army closed the A-15 road, the only access route to Vaharai depriving the people of the area and the internally displaced persons from the neighbouring Trincomalee district, adequate supply of food and medicine.

Since the Army does not allow vehicular traffic, including ambulances to travel along the road, the patients are compelled to brave the rough seas to reach Valaichchenai.