Excavation work at Chemmani mass grave temporarily suspended, 65 human skeletons recovered

By Thevatharsan Sukinthan

Colombo, July 10 (Daily Mirror) - The second phase of excavation work at the Chemmani mass grave, which had been ongoing continuously for the past 15 days, was temporarily suspended this afternoon, Thursday. 

Excavations are scheduled to resume on July 21.

Today marked the 15th day of the second phase of excavation at the Chemmani site. During the process, 65 human skeletal remains identified in the mass graves were fully exhumed.

With today’s operations, a total of 24 days of excavation have now been completed at the Chemmani site. 

From Forensic Excavation Site No. 01, 63 human skeletal remains were recovered, while an additional two remains were found at Forensic Excavation Site No. 02.

It was also reported that fragmented human bones were found in a disorganised manner at Forensic Excavation Site No. 02.

All the recovered skeletal remains have been placed under the custody of the Judicial Medical Officer. Items such as bags, footwear, glass bangles, fabric resembling clothing and a doll, recovered from the graves, have been identified as evidentiary materials and placed under judicial custody.