Peradeniya earthslip kills businessman, four shops buried

A businessman was killed when a part of a mountain in the centre of Peradeniya town collapsed on November 21 around 11.30 pm and fell on four shops adjacent to the Kandy-Colombo main road.

The deceased is a 68-year-old unmarried man named Anura Jayaweera. Investigations have revealed that he was running a communication center and staying in a room at the location.

Three out of the four shop rooms were completely destroyed due to the landslide. The Kandy Municipal Fire Department, Police and local residents removed the soil by using a backhoe to extricate the person who was under the soil. Police said that the body was found about three hours after the incident.

A part adjacent to this place suffered a landslide a few years ago and eight shops were completely destroyed.

Later, a programme was implemented to stabilize the mountain by spending millions of rupees. Steps were taken to remove the destroyed business premises from the place, but the business premises in the adjacent place were maintained in the same manner.

It is reported that the National Building Research Institute had informed the people who ran the shops below the landslide site about the dangerous situation there.

Kandy District Disaster Management Assistant Director Indika Ranaweera said that with the heavy rains in Kandy district, steps have been taken to evacuate residents of the risk areas by identifying the places with landslide risk.

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