A Sri Lanka Army Commando team has recovered the body of a young man who died after falling from a precipice at the Mini World’s End viewing point in Ududumbara, Hiru News reported.
Police said the dead man was 27 years old and lived in the Lunukadiyamaditta area of Menikhinna, near Kandy.
A 17-member team from the Commando Regiment carried out the special operation on Wednesday (16), after being notified by the Central Provincial Office of the Disaster Management Centre of the incident at the viewing point, which is maintained by the Department of Forest Conservation.
Troops reached the body, which was lying in a precipice approximately 355 metres deep, and recovered it using special operational methods across difficult mountainous terrain. The body was then handed to Ududumbara Police for legal proceedings.
Context
Mini World’s End is an escarpment viewing point on the eastern side of the Knuckles range, a UNESCO-listed conservation forest that draws hikers to a network of trails above Ududumbara and Meemure. Its viewing platforms sit at the edge of steep drops, and rescues there require abseiling teams rather than ordinary recovery crews — which is why the Disaster Management Centre routed the call to the Commando Regiment.
The Knuckles trails have produced repeated call-outs this month. A novice monk drowned at Meemure in the same range on 13 September.
At the more heavily visited Horton Plains World’s End — a separate site in Nuwara Eliya, not to be confused with the Ududumbara viewing point — authorities have moved this year to cap visitor numbers and introduce a shuttle service, citing crowding and safety on the escarpment path.
Not reported
Hiru does not give the dead man’s name, say when he fell or how long the body lay in the precipice before the operation, or state whether anyone witnessed the fall. It does not say whether the death is being treated as an accident; Ududumbara Police are continuing investigations. The report does not indicate whether the viewing point has safety barriers or whether the Department of Forest Conservation has commented.
