Todays News

SRCS tsunami housing project now in progress

The Saudi Red Crescent Society (SRCS) which pledged 1000 houses for the December 26, 2004 tsunami victims is now in the process of finalising agreements with the State Engineering Corporation (SEC) to commence construction of the houses in the Eastern and Southern provinces, Jamal M. H. Al Madani, Second Secretary of the S. Arabia Embassy in Colombo told the 'Daily News'. Work on renovation and rebuilding of 250 tsunami-devastated mosques will also start and will be completed once the initial assessment reports and estimates were finalised, he said.

Lands for the construction of houses under this programme have been identified in three places in the Eastern province and these lands will be procured soon, a local politician who is coordinating SRCS' post-tsunami humanitarian works told the 'Daily News'.

Fathima Razeema, the nine-month-old Sri Lankan baby with a rare congenital defect who received unlimited support from the Saudi government in February this year to correct her defect is now undergoing advanced medical treatment in Saudi Arabia and the Saudi government will bear all her medical expenses for one more year, the diplomat said.

The defect called 'Exomphalog' affects only 21 in a million. The initial medical expense of Rs. 3 lakhs at the Apollo Hospital, Colombo was also borne by his government, Madani said.

The office of the Saudi Red Crescent Society (SRCS) that was established in Colombo following the visit of SRCS President Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Sweilem in the immediate aftermath of the natural calamity is coordinating the relief and rehabilitation activities, Madani said.

Over the past 27 years, a total of 36 scholars from nine different countries have been awarded the King Faisal Internatinal Price for their outstanding accomplishments in the fields of Medicine, Science, Islamic Studies, Arabic Language and Literature and Service to Islam. The prizes are being awarded by the King Faisal Foundation (KFF), the Middle East's largest philanthropic organisation, with presentations received from a large number of nominees all over the world, he said, adding that the number of participants in this annual international event is growing.

There have been no presentations from Sri Lankan nominees so far and the KFF would welcome Sri Lankan participation, he said. The topics for the 2006 King Faisal International Prize are: Science - Mathematics, Medicine - Biology of Vascular Inflammation, Arabic Language and Literature - the Arabic Language in Modern Linguistics, Islamic Studies - The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence.

50 Dead in Sri Lanka's Train Accident

Associated Press, Wed 27th Apr 09:35GMT. POLGAHAWELA, Sri Lanka (AP) - An intercity passenger train collided with a bus that tried to dash through a railroad crossing in northwestern Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing at least 50 people and injuring 40 others, police said. But the local hospital put the death toll at 35.

The passenger bus, apparently racing another bus, slipped past a barrier and tried to cross a railroad track at Polgahawela, a small suburban town surrounded by rice and coconut farming villages. The area is about 50 miles northeast of Colombo.

The bus was reduced to a mangled heap of metal after it caught fire. There were opened suitcases with passengers' clothes strewn on the track and on the sides.

Police at the scene first reported that at least 50 people died when the bus and train collided, while 40 others were injured, 30 of them seriously, police spokesman Rienzie Perera said in Colombo. Some of the seriously wounded were being brought to National Hospital in Colombo, he said.

But Dr. Ananda Goonesekara, the director of the local hospital said 35 people have died. The National Hospital in Colombo said nine of the wounded, including a 4-year-old girl, were in critical condition.

All the victims were aboard the bus, which was dragged by the train for about 100 yards after the collision. The train driver was, however, admitted to the local hospital for unexplained reasons.

Railway employee, E.M. Jayaratna, who was on duty, said the automatic gate had closed as the train was approaching.

``There were other vehicles waiting, but this bus overtook them and came near the gate,'' he said. ``They thought they will manage to speedup and cross, but it did not happen,'' said Jayaratna.

``Our initial investigation suggests that two buses were competing with each other to reach Colombo faster,'' police spokesman Perera said.

A senior railway official said the barricade at the railroad crossing blocks only one lane _ one of more than 900 such crossings in Sri Lanka. Drivers often race through the open lanes to cross ahead of approaching trains, and accidents are common, but not of this magnitude.

``In this case the bus driver decided to pass using the right (open) side of the crossing,'' said G.R.P. Chandratilleke, the operating superintendent of the railways.

The train was traveling from the capital Colombo to the temple city of Kandy when the accident took place. The bus was on its way to Colombo from Dambulla.

Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island country of 19 million people, has a tiny railroad system established by British colonial rulers in 1865.

Khalid