Three people have died from injuries sustained in a restaurant fire near Thalawathugoda Junction on Monday morning, police said on Tuesday, raising the toll from the single fatality initially reported.
The three victims were pulled from the burning premises and admitted to the Colombo National Hospital, where all three later succumbed to their injuries while under treatment, Ada Derana reported. NewsFirst put the initial number rescued from the building at three.
Three fire engines from the Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Municipal Council were deployed to bring the blaze under control. Preliminary investigations point to a gas leak as the likely cause, though Thalangama Police, who are leading the inquiry, said the exact origin of the fire has not yet been confirmed.
The deaths come weeks after a hotel fire in Batticaloa killed two siblings from smoke inhalation on May 27, and follow the Anguruwatota elders’ home fire earlier this month that killed thirteen residents after carbon monoxide and smoke spread through the unlicensed care facility. The Anguruwatota tragedy triggered a national policy response requiring registration of all elders’ homes and remains the most consequential fatal blaze of the cycle.
Commercial kitchen gas leaks have become a recurring cause of building fires in the western Colombo–Kalutara belt this year, with insurers and the fire brigade flagging poor LPG cylinder maintenance as a leading risk factor. The Thalawathugoda investigation is expected to seek the building’s safety certificates, the time the leak was first detected and whether ignition came from kitchen equipment or electrical sources.
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