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A trip to the beach ends in sea of tears
By Chandani Kirinde
When the Matara-bound Samudra Devi left the Fort Railway station in Colombo at 7.10 a.m.on that fateful day there was little sign on board the train that it would be involved in a tragedy that would go down in history as the world's worst train tragedy.

When seven year old Shehan Leelananda boarded this same train at Aluthgama station around 8.15 a.m along with his mother Amitha Padmini (36) and his two sisters Shanika Deshani (14) and Nimalsha Madurangi (11) to go to Hikkaduwa for a sea bath, all they looked forward to was day of fun at the beach.

Ranjith Leelananda, Shehan's father recounts that day when his wife and three children left for the station along with several other relatives to go to Hikkaduwa while he promised to join them later in the day after finishing his fishing. "We always go together, the five of us. But that day I had to go to sea and so the four of them went ahead. My children wanted to see the coral reef at Hikkaduwa and have a sea bath," he said.

It was while Ranjith was in mid sea that the tsunami rolled in. He was marooned with several others unable to make it to shore due to the heavy waves that were crashing all around them. It was around five in the evening that he managed to make it to shore.

Amidst the scens of chaos and confusion Ranjith managed to find a three-wheeler to go in search of his family members. But his luck ran out almost immediately as the vehicle stopped for want of fuel.

Early next day he found another three-wheeler and headed towards the hospitals and refugee camps in the area. With no sign of either his children or wife, Ranjith headed for his wife's hometown in Galle and found their homes in ruins as well but luckily her relatives were all alive. Hence he along with his brother-in-law headed to the Batapola hospital, which was the place the bodies of those killed in train incident, were being brought to.

It was more than 30 hours since the tragedy and bodies were being brought in a truck and being dumped on the ground in the hospital premises. Ranjith looked on and as the tipper unloaded its loads of bodies, he saw his eldest daughter among them. Next he spotted his younger daughter and soon the lifeless body of his wife. There was no sign of his son and giving him up for dead, he found a truck and loaded the bodies of his loved ones.

The following day, with the help of others, he dug a single grave and buried his loved ones. The same evening, a fellow villager came running saying Ranjith's son was alive Ahungalla. "I just ran as I heard the news. I had given up on him as well even though I did not find his body," Ranjith said as he cuddled his son on his lap. "If not for him, I too would have been dead today."

Shehan recalled that when the first wave came in and the water began to rise he had seen his mother and sisters. But when the second and bigger wave hit the train and sent it flying through the air, Shehan had hung onto the luggage rack with all his might.

Another male passenger who had escaped the disaster had sighted the boy, broken open the compartment window and carried him on his shoulders to safely. Thereafter Shehan had been in the home of a local politician along with several others and had managed to give the name and address of his father, which led to their reunion.

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