Protests break out against failure of authorities to provide safe route to cross lagoon in eastern town of Kinniya.
ISTANBUL (AA) – At least six people, including four children, died when a ferry capsized in eastern Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Police in Trincomalee district said a ferry carrying around 25 children and teachers across a lagoon in the town of Kinniya “lost balance and overturned,” according to daily Ceylon Today.
The Sri Lankan navy said in a statement that six bodies “have been recovered while 12 persons have been rescued and hospitalized.”
Protests erupted in the area after the accident, with people blaming local authorities for not providing an alternate crossing route and deploying a makeshift ferry while a bridge in the area is undergoing repairs, the newspaper reported.
They burnt tires to block roads, threw stones at a government building, and attacked the house of a local lawmaker in Kinniya, according to the report.