Camps washed away: 60 Military personnel Killed. 1500 Sea Tigers feard dead

Brigade Commander and 18 soldiers were reported dead at Kalkudah.

Dec 28, Colombo. A Colonel, one Major, one Lieutenant, one Navy Lieutenant and two Warrant Officers (WO II) of the Army and Navy were among the 60 Army and Navy personnel now confirmed killed. ColonelW. M. S Gunaratne, Major H.W.D.L.R.A Wickramasinghe and Lieutenant S.C.S.R Premasiri were kiled by the monstrous tidal waves. Two hundred and ninety two Service personnel including Six Officers as of Tuesday (28) undergo medical treatment at Military Hospitals and elsewhere after they were admitted in the aftermath of the disaster. Whereabouts of twenty five service personnel including two officers who had been reported missing are yet to be traced.

Several small military camps were washed away in tidal wave catastrophe while Kalkudah Brigade Commander and 18 soldiers of the camp were reported dead. Two main navy camps in Nilaveli and Magalla were wiped out while severe damage was caused to the Trinco Navy base, and the navy camps at Kankesanthurai, Point Pedro and Nagarkovil. The Naval base in Nilaweli has been completely damaged and washed away in the tidal waves and there was no confirmation about the Naval persons affected. One of Sri Lanka’s largest warships, the Parakramabahu, anchored at Dakshina Navy base at Galle "came on to the pier and then toppled over to one side," a senior security official said."It suffered heavy damages," he said.

Media reports quoted a leader of LTTE's Sea Tigers as saying that two Sea Tigers bases at Mullaitivu had been wiped out and an unspecified number of LTTE cadres had perished. Unconfirmed reports suggested the number of LTTE casualties as high as 3000.

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