A civil defence soldier travelling by motorcycle was killed in Ampara on Monday night when a tipper truck coming from the opposite direction skidded off the road and overturned on top of him, police said.
The accident occurred at around 8.00 p.m. at the Diyabeduma junction in Damana, Ampara. The dead man was named as Najith Niroshan Karunathilaka, a father of two from the Madawalalanda area.
Police said the tipper truck was travelling from Hingurana towards Damana, while the soldier was riding in the opposite direction, from Damana towards Hingurana. The truck was moving at speed and skidded on the wet road surface during rainfall, veering off the carriageway and bringing down a high-tension electricity pole on the right-hand side before overturning.
The motorcyclist was trapped beneath the overturned truck. Residents of the area took him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The driver of the tipper truck was also injured. He was admitted to the Damana district hospital and later transferred to the Ampara General Hospital for further treatment.
Wet weather and road risk
The crash came during a spell of heavy and persistent rain that has affected much of the country over the past week, with eight deaths and close to 12,000 people affected recorded by the Disaster Management Centre in weather-related incidents. Skidding on wet surfaces is a recurring factor in fatal crashes involving heavy vehicles, and tipper trucks in particular have featured in a series of fatal collisions with motorcyclists this year, including one in Horana last month in which two young men were killed.
Hiru News was the only verified newsroom to report the Ampara crash at the time of writing. Police have not said whether the truck driver will face charges.
