(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Due to a landslide caused by the adverse weather last night the road section between Imaduwa and Pinnaduwa on the Southern Expressway is completely closed for traffic, the Police said.
As a result of the landslide, a fire engine of the Police Special Task Force attached to the Southern Expressway and an ambulance were involved in an accident and five officers who were traveling in the vehicles were injured and admitted to Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.
It is reported that the fire engine and the ambulance of the Police Special Task Force had come to investigate the landslide on the Southern Expressway.
In addition to this, it is also reported that a car traveling on the Expressway also had an accident at the time of the landslide, but the people traveling in it were not injured.
The police say that the earth mound collapsed at around 7.55 pm onto the road section near the 102-km post between Pinnaduwa and Imaduwa interchanges due to the torrential rain in the area and vehicular movement on both sides of the expressway has been hampered since last night.
Due to the collapse of the earth mound, the road has been completely closed and the traffic traveling from Colombo can exit from Pinnaduwa Interchange and re-enter the expressway through the Imaduwa entrance, Director General of the Expressway Development Authority Mr. L. E. S. Weerakoon said. The motorists entering the Southern Expressway from the direction of Matara are advised to exit from the Imaduwa interchange and re-enter from Pinnaduwa Interchange.
The officials said authorities are working along with Sri Lanka Army personnel at the moment to clear the blocked stretch of the road and at least two lanes of the highway are expected to be cleared by this afternoon (12). Meanwhile, the police said the Badulla-Colombo main road at Opanayake area has been completely blocked due to landslides and rockfalls. Police urge drivers using those roads to use alternative routes.
