COLOMBO: Camps which housed 300,000 displaced people by the end of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict have now all closed, three years after the war ended, the military said yesterday.
The United Nations welcomed the move, but said hundreds of people could not return home because their properties are occupied by the military in the former war zones. Instead they are in makeshift shelters or with friends and family.
Once one of the world’s biggest camps, the final batch of 361 families left Menik Farm in the northern district of Vavuniya on Monday, military spokesman Ruwan Wanigasekera said.
“As of last evening, Menik Farm is formally closed because there are no more Internally Displaced People,” Wanigasekera said.
20 dead, 14 hurt in China mine plunge
BEIJING: A coal mining accident in northern China yesterday left 20 miners dead and 14 injured, state media said, in the latest incident to hit the industry. The cable of a rail carriage taking workers into the mine in Gansu province snapped, sending 34 miners plummeting into the pit, state news agency reported.
The injured have been transported to hospital, including three who were in a serious condition, it said. Officials at the Baiyin city work safety administration, which oversees the Qusheng mine, refused to comment on the issue.
AFP
