Body of Chennai taxi driver washed ashore in Sri Lanka

 (NIE) COLOMBO- The body of a Chennai taxi driver has been washed ashore at Nilveli near Trincomalee in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The body, discovered by local fishermen on Sunday, had an Identity Card of N.Poomi Durai, member of the Chennai Central Call Taxi Association (registration number: 161/2003).

His address is given as No: 13/15 N.G.O.Colony, Kamaraj Nagar, Chooli Madu, Chennai: 96. ID No: 25, DL No: 9418, Badge No: 96731.

The Trincomnalee Harbor police had taken charge of the body, and sent it to the Trincomalee government hospital morgue.

 An Indian High Commission official told Express on Monday that a message has been sent to the relevant authorities in Chennai seeking further information on the matter.

This body was discovered after Trincomalee fishermen reported to the Harbor Police on Sunday that six bodies were floating 20 nautical miles off the coast. The Sri Lankan Navy then sent two Dvora gunboats to recover the bodies, but the mission was unsuccessful due to poor visibility and the rough sea. On Monday, three Dovras and a Y-12 aircraft of the Lankan Air Force were deployed, but they had not reported sighting any floating body, said the Lankan navy spokesman Capt.Akram Alavi.

Asked if it was possible for bodies of Chennai flood victims to be washed ashore so far from India, Capt.Alavi said that such a possibility could not be ruled out given the strength of sea currents.