The Courts have instructed the Police to submit a further report on the stampede which occurred in Maligawatta on Thursday (21). Three people died and eight others were injured when a stampede broke out at a house on Jummah Masjid Road, Maligawatta where a private donation program was being carried out while Colombo was under curfew due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The courts instructed the Police to submit a further report when the Maligawatta Police reported the incident to the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on Friday. The businessman who had organised the donation and six others were arrested and presented before the court and remanded till June 4. The Maligawatta Police are expected to submit the further report on that day.
Four people injured in the stampeded are continuing to receive treatment at the National Hospital in Colombo.
According to sources, one person remains in critical condition.
Nearly 300 - 400 people had gathered on the day to receive monetary donation from the businessmen prior to the stampede. According to residents in the area the businessman carries out the donation program annually prior to the Ramazan festival.