Seven persons including a child were killed while 23 others were injured following a tragic accident during the “Fox Hill Super Cross 2024” racing event held in Diyatalawa on Sunday (21).
Among the deceased were four officials of the racing event who were stationed as flag marshals. The other victims were civilians who were spectators of the event, as reported by the police.
The deceased were identified as follows:
- Shivakumar Dhanushika, 8 years old
- Muththusamy Udayakumar, 55 years old, a resident of Welimada
- Chamath Niroshan, 19 years old, a resident of Seeduwa
- Ashen Heenatigala, 20 years old, a resident of Akuressa
- Rasika Abeynaike, 32 years old
- Aruna Shantha Upaligamage, 62 years old, a resident of Matara
- Ganesh Kamalanath, a resident of Matara
Rasika Abeynaike, a member of the Sri Lanka Army rugby team and stationed at Salawa Army Camp in Kosgama, was attending the racing event as a spectator while on leave. Abeynaike, who completed his education at Embilipitiya Maha Vidyalaya and joined the Army Engineer Corps, was scheduled to be transferred to Udawalawa Army Camp on the day following the incident. His final rites are to be performed in the Galaha area of Kandy, as per family sources.
Two other victims of the tragic accident, Ganesh Kamalanath and Aruna Shantha, both from the Matara area and close friends, were fathers of three and two children, respectively.
Ashen Heenatigala, 20 years old, from Akuressa in Matara, had recently sat for the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination in the Mathematics stream and was awaiting results.
All three of them were past pupils of Rahula College in Matara, according to sources.
Police Media Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa stated that the incident occurred when a race car had veered off the race track and collided with a group of spectators.
The “Fox Hill Super Cross 2024” racing event has now been temporarily suspended, the police mentioned.
Diyatalawa Police is conducting further investigations regarding the incident. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army has launched a separate internal investigation regarding the incident.
The 28th edition of the ‘Fox Hill Super Cross’, organized by the Sri Lanka Military Academy Diyatalawa with the support of Sri Lanka Automobile Sports (SLAS), kicked off at Diyatalawa on Sunday (21), after a hiatus of 05 years. The last event was also suspended midway due to the Easter Sunday terror attacks on April 21, 2019.
