Thirty-seven-year-old airman, Flight Seargent Y.M.S. Yaparatne who fell off an Airforce helicopter during flood rescue operations last week succumbed to his injuries at Karapitiya hospital on Friday night.
Air Force sources said the Airman fell off the helicopter while it was flying about 25 feet off the ground, carrying a flood victim to safety.
He was a resident of Nedagamuwa West, Kotugoda. The Sri Lanka Air Force has deployed two MI 17s, three Bell 212s and one Bell 412 on to rescue marooned people from worse flood hit areas in the southers parts of the country and distribute cooked food, dry rations and emergency goods to the stranded.
A B200 Beechcraft is deployed for observation missions. A Airforce spokesman said so far they have airlifted four people in Ayagama, two from Neluwa, nine in Pahiyangala, one in Upper Neluwa and five in Kahawatte.