Excavation at Chemmani mass grave resumes today

By Thevatharsan Sukinthan

The third segment of the third phase of excavation at the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna resumed on Wednesday morning.

The court had granted permission for the third phase of excavations to be carried out over a period of 56 days. However, after 32 days of excavation, the work was temporarily suspended on June 23 and The third segment of the third phase of excavations has now recommenced today.

The first phase of excavations at the Chemmani mass grave began on May 15 last year and continued for nine days, during which the skeletal remains of 19 individuals were recovered.

The second phase commenced on June 26 last year and continued for 45 days until September 3. By the end of that phase, a total of 240 skeletal remains, including the 19 recovered during the first phase, had been identified.

During the third phase, 21 skeletal remains were uncovered over a 12-day period from April 27 to May 9 this year. The second segment of the third phase resumed on June 1 and continued for 22 days until June 23, before the excavation was temporarily halted.

To date, 412 sets of human skeletal remains have been identified at the Chemmani mass grave, of which 409 have been fully excavated. The Chemmani site has now been identified as Sri Lanka's largest known mass grave.