Sri Lankan state minister, security official killed in road accident

Colombo: In a tragic incident, Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Water Supply Sanath Nishantha and a police officer were killed in a road accident on the Colombo-Katunayake expressway on Thursday, said police. The minister’s vehicle crashed with a container truck at 2 am (local time) in the Kandana police division, reported Xinhua news agency.

After colliding with the container vehicle, the jeep carrying Nisantha, his security officer and the driver rammed into the road fence. All of them were seriously injured and admitted to the Ragama hospital. The jeep was travelling from Katunayake to Colombo.

The state minister and the police official died upon admission to the hospital, while the driver of the vehicle is currently undergoing treatment, police said. Kandana police are conducting further investigations, according to Daily Mirror.

Nishantha was a prominent Sri Lankan politician who was elected to the Parliament from the Puttalam district in 2015 and 2020. He was a member of the United People’s Freedom Alliance and later joined the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

(with input from agencies)