Fish vendor killed in wild elephant attack

A fish vendor who was attacked by a wild elephant on Sunday morning inside the Mahakanadarawa , Mihintale Tank reservation succumbed to injuries while being taken to the Mihintale Hospital.

The victim lying on the platform adjoining the tank was found by another villager, who with the assistance of other villagers rushed him to the hospital

The deceased had been identified as R.m.dayananda (56) father of three children and a resident of Siyambalagaswewa. The deceased had been engaged in the sale of fresh water fish in a temporary shed opposite his house on the An ur ad hap ur a tr in com a lee Road.

The residents said that the road from Siyambalagaswewa to the fishery platform at the Mahakanadarawa was now a thick forest since the takeover of the tank reservation by the Wild Life Department, and had been abandoned with only a foot path remaining. The villagers who used that path to visit the Mahakanadarawa tank were exposed to sudden attacks by wild elephants that roamed in the area. They urged the Wild Life Department authorities to permit the villagers to clear the shrubs so as to enable them to move about without becoming targets of wild elephants.

OIC of the Mihintale Police IP Jayantha Gunathilleke and a police team conducted investigation.