Mandaithivu boat tragedy Bodies of six youth handed over to families

The bodies of the six Advanced Level students, who died when their boat capsized at sea, off Mandaithivu, Jaffna on Monday (28), were handed over to their families following an autopsy yesterday (29).

The incident occurred around 1.30 p.m.When seven students travelled to Mandaithivu for a boat ride to celebrate one of their birthdays.

Initially five out of seven students died due to drowning, one went missing and the other was rescued, Police said.

However, the body of the missing youth was also recovered from the Mandaithivu seas.

The deceased students were identified as Nanthan Rajeevan (18) Nagasilogan Sinnathamby (17)and Jayasanth Thinesh (17) from Urumpirai, Thanurathan (20) from Kokkuvil, Praveen (20) from Nallur and Thanushan (18) Sandilippay.

Preliminary Police investigations revealed the boat was not fit to be put to sea. Police also believe that the students had been under the influence of liquor.

However, Jaffna Teaching Hospital Director T. Sathiyalingam told the media that certain body samples of the deceased were sent to Colombo, for further medico-legal examinations, which would reveal whether the students had been under the influence of liquor.

Altogether, 18 students had travelled to Mandaithivu to celebrate the birthday, however the boat in which seven of them travelled separately had capsized.

Meanwhile, another five students, of the 18, including the one who was rescued from the sea, were arrested by police and later released following investigations and severe warnings.