Sri Lankans struggle to clear devastated railways

The Sri Lankan military struggled today to clear the devastated railway line where a train was ripped from the tracks by the power of the tsunami.

More than 1,500 people died when the packed train was shunted off its rails near Galle in the south of the island and ploughed into several houses.

Pictures of the mangled railway track and scores of dead bodies shocked the world and brought home the magnitude of the disaster.

Today, 10 days after the tragedy, the wreckage was still clear to see. The dead were still being removed and three badly decomposed bodies were pulled from the debris.

Several cranes were at the scene. One dissected the train’s engine piece by piece.

The military brought in a tank and attached three thick metal cables to one of the carriages in an attempt to pull it from the crash site.

But the tank was not strong enough and was gradually pulled towards the carriage. Spectators gathered at the site to watch the complicated and fraught procedure.

Further down the track, new houses were being built to accommodate some of the many thousands of people who have been made homeless by the disaster.

Large teams of men and women hammered nails and lifted aluminium roofing into place. Words of encouragement and music were played over a Tannoy as the crews worked.