SL military ammunition dump explodes in Colombo suburb

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 June 2016, 20:26 GMT]
At least one Sri Lanka Army soldier was killed and three civilians sustained injuries as an explosions ripple ammunition dump of the SL military camp at Salalwa situated at Kosgama in Awissawela, 36 km east of Colombo Sunday evening. An SL military spokesperson said a fire had started off the explosions, adding that the cause was yet to be established. Chaos prevailed as thousands of people were fleeing the area to escape from the shrapnel from the continuous explosions.

The explosions continued for hours amidst smoke and debris blocking the people from fleeing, news reports said.

SL military personnel and fire fighters were struggling to block the fire from reaching the residences of civilians.

People have been evacuated around 2 km of the Kosgama military base.

Traffic remained blocked at some parts of Colombo-Awissawela road, news reports in Colombo said.

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