A goods train transporting gasoline from Nawalapitiya to Kotagala derailed between Watawala and Galabodya causing damage to the railway line and a tank carrying 5200 litres of diesel.

The train service on the main line was crippled and the up trains from Colombo were terminated at Nawalapitiya and the down trains from Badulla at Hatton. A senior official of the Nawalapitiya Control Room said they informed the officials of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation in Kotagala to remove the diesel in the damaged gasoline tank that developed a leak. (Gamini Bandara Illangatilleka)