More than 80 people died in road accidents and drownings across Sri Lanka during this year’s Sinhala-Tamil New Year season, police said on Monday, reporting an increase on previous Avurudu holiday periods.
Fatalities recorded between April 10 and April 18 included 53 road-accident deaths and 27 drownings, police said. The highest daily road tolls were recorded on April 10 — the start of the holiday travel surge — and on April 13, the day before the New Year dawned.
“Compared to previous years, there has been an increase in the number of deaths caused by road accidents and drowning incidents during this year’s New Year season,” police said.
In a separate briefing on Monday, Deputy Inspector General W.P.J. Senadeera, head of Traffic Control and Road Safety, provided a year-on-year comparison for the April 10–19 window. Fatal accidents rose by 18 cases and fatalities by 20. Major accidents were up 94 cases, minor accidents up 49, and property-damage accidents up 48. DIG Senadeera said the rising trend persisted despite awareness campaigns and heightened enforcement, and urged motorists to exercise greater caution.
The final tally closes a holiday period that Health Ministry data had already flagged as severe, with more than 29,000 festive-season hospital admissions recorded by April 14. Earlier police reports had put the running road-accident toll at 44 killed between April 10 and 15, and six on New Year’s Day itself.
Police had launched a sustained enforcement operation ahead of the holiday period, deploying 8,000 officers on traffic duty, operating CCTV surveillance on the expressways, and running a WhatsApp hotline for reckless-driving complaints. The National Transport Commission fined 80 buses for overcharging returning passengers, while the IGP banned gift acceptance at police relief events.
Drowning deaths have been a persistent concern during Avurudu, when large numbers of families travel to rivers, reservoirs, and beaches. Authorities issued repeated advisories about swimming at unguarded locations, and specific clusters of drowning deaths were reported at Deduru Oya, Gregory Lake, Mihintale, Dehiowita, and Mahaweli sites during the holiday.
The police data does not include injury counts or district-level breakdowns. Updated figures are typically released in the final weekly bulletin following the holiday season.
