Fleeing refugees drown after boat capsizes

A boat transporting ethnic Tamil refugees capsized off eastern Sri Lanka today, leaving four dead and two missing, police said.

The refugees were fleeing the rebel-held village of Vaharai in eastern Batticaloa district, where there has been heavy fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The United Nations said on Thursday that about 35,000 people have been trapped in Vaharai by the fighting between government troops and guerrillas, and were suffering from indiscriminate shelling.

The government claims the rebels are holding them captive as human shields, while the rebels say the government has sealed the only road out of the town. The jungle paths in and out of the village are mined and unsafe.

Refugees who managed to leave Vaharai said that they were held forcibly by the rebels and managed to sneak out when the guerrillas were involved in fighting.

They spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.

Local police officer Mahesh Senaratne said at least six people were believed killed in the accident but only four bodies had been recovered.

It is believed rough seas may have caused the accident.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting the government since 1983, demanding a self-ruled homeland for Sri Lanka’s 3.1 million minority Tamils, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese-dominated state.

A Norwegian-brokered cease-fire officially still holds but more than 3,500 fighters and civilians have been killed in renewed fighting this year.

More than 65,000 people died in the conflict before the cease-fire.