Eighth monk dies after Sri Lanka cable car crash
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Seven monks were killed instantly when their cabin plunged down the mountain near a forest monastery in the north-western Kurunegala district.
PHOTO: AFP
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COLOMBO – A Buddhist monk injured in a cable car crash in Sri Lanka died on Sept 28, raising the death toll to eight in the worst accident of its kind, police said.
Seven monks, including three foreigners, were killed instantly when their cabin plunged down the mountain near a forest monastery in the north-western Kurunegala district on the night of Sept 24.
Six others were taken to hospital, four in critical condition.
“One of the six monks in hospital succumbed to his injuries late last night,” a police official told AFP.
He said the funerals of five monks – four Sri Lankans and a Romanian – were held on Sept 27 at a cemetery near their monastery.
A Russian monk is to be buried along with the Sri Lankan monk who died in hospital, a spokesperson for the monastery said.
He added that the remains of the third foreign monk, an Indian national, had been repatriated to relatives in India.
Buddhist monks stand at the site of a cable car accident in Sri Lanka's north-western district of Kurunegala.
PHOTO: AFP
The 13 monks packed the small makeshift cabin as they headed to meditation units atop a mountain within the vast Na Uyana monastery.
Initial investigation findings suggested that the cable snapped, sending the cabin careering downhill at high speed before it jumped the track and crashed into a tree.
The monastery is located 130km north-east of capital Colombo. AFP
