The people of Meeriyabedda who were affected by the massive landslide recently, have requested the Minister of  Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera to terminate the search for bodies in the area.

During the Minister's visit to Meeriyabedda yesterday the people have requested to stop the search operations as they cannot bear to witness their loved ones being dug out of the ground and being in a state where the bodies are hardly recognizable.

"As the bodies which were recovered during search operations were unrecognizable the people requested the Disaster Management Commission to stop the recovering process and build a memorial as for those who lost their lives to the disaster", Minister Amaraweera said speaking to media yesterday.

The Minister maintained that the people particularly requested a memorial to carry the names of those who died and that it be built in the center of the village.

"We will take all necessary steps to ensure that the people get what they want and that the reconstruction and rehabilitation processes commences immediately" he said.

Meanwhile Minister Amaraweera also said that the identification of unrecognizable bodies will be done via DNA examinations.