Three men have been arrested in connection with setting fire to a container lorry and causing property damage in the aftermath of a fatal road accident at Bolawalana, Negombo.
The three, aged 20, 25 and 26, are from Dagonna and Kibulapitiya in Negombo, police said.
According to police, the collision that preceded the fire occurred when two motorcyclists travelling at high speed towards Negombo struck a container lorry that was turning across the road, between the second and third posts on the Negombo–Minuwangoda road at Bolawalana.
Both riders were killed. They were residents of Dagonna, Negombo, aged 18 and 20.
Officers also recovered and seized a second motorcycle that had been abandoned in the area.
Hiru News did not report the sequence of events between the crash and the fire, whether the arrested men were related to the victims, or the extent of the damage caused to the lorry. Police have not said what charges the three will face.
Vehicles involved in fatal accidents are periodically attacked by crowds at the scene in Sri Lanka, particularly where young riders are killed, and drivers are often removed from the site by police for their own protection. Road deaths remain among the country’s most persistent public safety problems, with speed and overtaking by motorcyclists repeatedly identified by police as leading factors.
