2004 Tsunami : 137 unidentified body parts still at Karapitiya Hospital

December 28, 2023 at 12:51 PM

Body parts of 137 unidentified individuals who died in the Tsunami disaster remain at the Forensic Medicine Department of the Faculty of Medicine in Karapitiya, Galle, it was reported. 

According to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), Professor U.C.P. Perera, the identities of the said individuals remain unconfirmed, while the bone fragments from these bodies will be utilised for research and studies.

Prof. Perera revealed that the body parts were found in mangroves and swamps in Thelwatta and Peraliya during the nine months after the Tsunami disaster.

Stating that soon after the Tsunami disaster, bodies were displayed at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital for identification by relatives of the deceased, he added that, however, no one was able to confirm the identity of body parts. (NewsWire)