Drug addict arrested for removing iron levers to earn Rs 2400 from the Vanawasala train accident site.

A slow train operating from Polgahawela to South Kalutara derailed near the Wanawasala railway station in the early hours of the 16th. Police investigations have revealed that the cause was a drug addict removing the iron levers used to switch tracks on the railway line. In connection with the incident, Paliyagoda Police have arrested a 27-year-old youth residing in the Jambuwatta area of Wanawasala.

The police found the iron levers he had removed and sold for Rs. 2400 to a scrap iron buyer in the Wattala area. The tools used to remove them were also taken into custody from the suspect's house.

It has been revealed that the suspect removed the iron parts in the early hours of the 16th, and by the time the train accident occurred, he had already consumed alcohol with the money obtained from selling them. The affected train started its journey around 3:25 AM, stopping at every station, and departed from Wanawasala railway station around 5:20 AM. The derailment occurred about 100 to 200 meters ahead, while the train was traveling at a low speed of 10 to 15 kilometers per hour, so no fatalities have been reported. However, the estimated damage to the railway signaling system alone from this accident is approximately 2 million rupees.

About an hour before this incident, two express trains, one traveling from Trincomalee to Colombo and another from Kankesanthurai to Moratuwa, had passed this location at speeds between 60 and 70 kilometers per hour. At that time, these iron levers had already been removed, and investigating officers point out that if one of those trains had derailed, it could have been a disaster comparable to the severe train accident in 2001. Due to the vibrations caused by the train's movement, the absence of the levers caused an automatic track switch, leading to this accident. Accordingly, the derailment occurred with the train's engine on the main track and the rear carriages running onto the side track leading to the Aruwakkalu garbage yard.

The Urban Development Authority had constructed this special side track and yard near the Wanawasala railway station for transporting solid waste from Colombo and its suburbs to Aruwakkalu, Puttalam. Although the special train engines and containers brought for this purpose are currently used for other activities such as passenger transport, train operations on this side track do not occur regularly. If a train traveling on the main track is to enter this garbage yard, the tracks must be switched, and the suspect removed the iron levers belonging to that track-switching mechanism. The main suspect arrested in connection with the incident and the person who purchased the scrap iron were presented to the Colombo Magistrate's Court on the 17th and have been ordered to be remanded until the 29th.