Three people have been killed and 12 others are being treated at the Colombo National Hospital after a multi-vehicle collision in Mattakkuliya on Wednesday night, Hiru News reported.

The toll rose in the hours after the crash. The Daily Mirror, filing at 10:05 p.m. on September 16, reported that two people had been killed and several injured in a collision involving a car, a three-wheeler and four motorcycles. Hiru News subsequently reported that a third person had died, and said hospital sources had put the number of injured under treatment at 12.

Hiru News, citing police, said the crash occurred at Rassamunakanda in Mattakkuliya when a car travelling at high speed lost its brakes. The driver was unable to control the vehicle, which struck a three-wheeler and several motorcycles. An earlier Hiru report put the number of injured at more than five, attributing the figure to police.

The injured were taken to the Colombo National Hospital for treatment, the Daily Mirror said.

Mattakkuliya Police are conducting further investigations into the cause. The Daily Mirror said the cause had yet to be determined; Hiru News said further details of the crash had not been released.

Neither outlet named the dead, and no account has been given of the ages of the victims or how many of the injured were motorcyclists.

Update (September 17): driver surrenders, drug test ordered

The driver of the car has surrendered to police, Hiru News reported on Thursday morning. He is 52 years old, and police have opened an investigation into whether he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash.

NewsFirst reported separately that the driver “has been taken into police custody” — the two outlets describe the same outcome but not the same route to it, and neither says when he came forward or whether he has been produced before a court.

Hiru News placed the crash near the Mattakkuliya–Ferguson Junction, with the car travelling at speed from the direction of Wattala before going out of control. That is a more specific location than the Rassamunakanda reference in its own earlier filing, and the drug investigation sits alongside, rather than replaces, the brake-failure account police gave on the night.

Both outlets now put the number under treatment at the Colombo National Hospital at 10, down from the 12 Hiru News reported hours earlier. NewsFirst said residents who reached the scene first were the ones who took the injured to hospital.

Hiru News said the dead were residents of Grandpass, Colombo 15, and Mattakkuliya, giving ages of 44 and 64 — two ages for three victims. The third has still not been described, and none of the three has been named.

Update (September 17): driver tested positive for cannabis

The driver had consumed cannabis, police have confirmed, NewsFirst reported on Thursday morning. The finding was established by a medical examination carried out after the crash. That closes the question police opened when they said they were investigating whether he was under the influence of drugs.

NewsFirst said preliminary investigations identify him as a businessman living in the Mattakkuliya area. It is the first description of the driver beyond his age.

The report also fixes the time and place more precisely than earlier accounts: the crash occurred at about 9.15 p.m. on Wednesday (16) at the Ferguson Road Junction area of Mattakkuliya, with the car travelling at speed from the Wattala direction before the driver lost control.

A positive test for cannabis consumption is not the same as a finding that impairment caused the crash, and no outlet reports that police have made that link. The brake-failure account given on the night has not been withdrawn.

The vehicle count has now partly converged

The number of vehicles struck had been reported four different ways. NewsFirst’s Thursday report revises its own earlier figure and now matches Hiru News:

Two outlets independently now give the same count. Police have still not issued a reconciled figure, and the earlier, higher counts have not been formally corrected.

NewsFirst puts the number taken to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka at 10, consistent with the revised figure both outlets settled on. It repeats that the dead were residents of Grandpass, Colombo 15 and Mattakkuliya, aged 44 and 64 — still two ages for three victims. None of the three has been named.

Update (September 17, evening): driver remanded, cannabis confirmed

The driver has been remanded until September 30 after being produced before Aluthkade Magistrate’s Court No. 07, NewsFirst reported on Thursday afternoon. That answers the question left open when he surrendered — he has now been produced before a court.

Police confirmed he was under the influence of cannabis at the time of the crash, a finding established through a medical examination conducted after the collision. The Daily Mirror reported the same conclusion earlier in the day, citing police. The drug investigation opened when he surrendered has therefore closed with a positive result, and the cannabis finding now sits alongside — not in place of — the brake-failure account police gave on the night.

NewsFirst fixed the time of the crash at around 9.15 p.m. on 16 September at Ferguson Junction, Mattakkuliya, with the car travelling at speed from the direction of Wattala.

The injured figure has moved again. NewsFirst now says seven people with serious injuries are under treatment at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, against the 10 both outlets settled on that morning and the 12 Hiru News reported on the night. The report does not say whether the difference reflects discharges or a further revision — the fourth distinct figure this story has produced.

The Daily Mirror, filing the same day, still described 10 seriously injured and repeated the vehicle count of three three-wheelers and four motorcycles — the higher count both outlets had otherwise abandoned.

The third victim remains undescribed and none of the three dead has been named.