A lorry carrying a load of tiles from Colombo to Bandarawela ended up on the Upcountry railway line on Friday, 11 September after its brakes failed, and train services were not disrupted.
Both Hiru News and the Daily Mirror place the incident at the Kolathenna railway crossing, between the Diyatalawa and Bandarawela railway stations, and both attribute it to a brake failure on the descent.
Railway authorities confirmed to both outlets that operations on the Upcountry line continued without interruption.
The two accounts differ on what happened next
The outlets diverge on the sequence and the outcome, and neither flags a discrepancy.
Hiru News reported that the driver steered towards the railway track after losing his brakes, collided with an oncoming motorcycle, and the lorry then overturned on the line. It said the lorry driver and the motorcyclist both sustained minor injuries.
The Daily Mirror reported, citing railway authorities, that the lorry was driven along the railway track, the driver having attempted to move the vehicle onto the track after the brake failure. It states plainly that no injuries have been reported, and makes no mention of a motorcycle.
The accounts are not reconcilable from the reporting available. One describes a vehicle that struck a motorcycle and overturned; the other describes a controlled attempt to run the lorry along the track as a way of stopping it, with nobody hurt. Daily Mirror’s version is sourced to railway authorities; Hiru does not attribute its injury detail.
Not reported
Neither outlet names the driver, gives the lorry’s registration, or says how the vehicle was recovered from the track. Neither explains why a brake failure on this stretch left the track as the driver’s available option, nor whether any train was approaching at the time. No outlet reports police action or a charge.
