Two members of the same family were killed and seven others injured when a van carrying them home from a wedding collided with an electricity pole on the Magalegoda–Naiwala Road in Veyangoda, police said.
The dead are Navod Chathuranga, 21, of Heendeniya, Veyangoda, who was driving, and his 80-year-old grandmother, according to Ada Derana. The driver was the brother of the bride.
Nine people were travelling in the van at the time, among them the bride’s mother, father and grandmother. The family was returning home to Heendeniya after attending the wedding.
Treatment and investigation
All nine occupants were injured and admitted to the Gampaha District General Hospital. The driver and his grandmother later succumbed to their injuries, police said. The seven others remain under treatment.
Preliminary investigations indicate the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel, both Ada Derana and NewsFirst reported.
Veyangoda Police are conducting further investigations.
The crash comes as police report 1,693 road deaths so far this year.
