Five people, including two children, drowned while bathing in the Deduru Oya in Chilawa yesterday (5).

According to the Police, the victims were part of a group of around ten people from Kiribathgoda who had arrived in the area for an excursion and were bathing under the Deduru Oya bridge when the tragedy occurred.

Four of them had drowned on the spot, while another died after being admitted to hospital.

The deceased have been identified as residents of Makola and Grandpass, aged 12, 16, 19, and 27.

A child who survived the incident recounted the tragic events:
“We first went to the Marawila church and then to Munneshwaram. After that, we came here to bathe. We were bathing upstream first, but then someone said the water was better here. The water didn’t look deep, but when I stepped back, I slipped and fell. My brother pulled me out. My aunt and her two sons are missing. The two children from the other house are also gone.”

Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said incidents of drowning in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs have been on the rise in recent months.

DMC Director Pradeep Kodippili stated that bathing in unsafe locations has been a major cause of such accidents.