One female administrative officer at the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau’s (SLFEB’s) head office at Battaramulla had died of dengue, and 30 other members of the staff had been hospitalised during the last two weeks due to dengue, official sources said.

The deceased, Manjula Padmaperuma (39), was the mother of two children and an administrative officer in the Planning Division. Her husband is also an administrative officer in the same section.

A senior officer of the SLFEB said there were around 900 persons working at the head office and that most of them had been down with dengue. During the last two weeks 30 of them had been hospitalized. Most of the victims were from the Planning Division -- including one pregnant woman whose condition was critical, he said.  

He said there was a rumour that dengue mosquitoes were breeding inside the air conditioning system of the building. However, no investigations had been made regarding this. (Vineetha M. Gamage)