Shelling kills fifteen at home for aged

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2000, 17:51 GMT]
Aid agency sources in the north said Sunday that 15 persons were killed and 31 wounded at the home for the aged in Kaithady, east of Jaffna town, when it was hit by artillery shells on Friday May 19. The Sri Lankan army has been shelling the general area of Kaithadi heavily since the Liberation Tigers overran its positions in around this junction town on May 17.

Sources said that the bodies of the home's inmates who were killed in the shelling were blown to pieces. Eleven inmates of the Kaithady home for aged were killed on the spot and thirty five were seriously wounded when the shells hit the building and the premises sources said.

Four of the wounded elders died later due to inadequate medical facilities in the area due to the fighting.

Aid agencies sources in Jaffna who came to know of the incident today said they are not in a position to visit the scene of Friday's carnage as Kaithady is not in the army's control.