Lankan passenger found dead inside plane toilet

A passenger of a Colombo bound flight was found dead after being stuck inside the toilet for nearly five hours.

The 60-year-old passenger Punsiri Arachchilage Jayathissa Kularatne died on March 6 on his way from Australia to attend a wedding.

Kularatne who is a resident of Thalathu Oya road, Gurudeniya has been living with his wife in Australia for quite a long period.

It was revealed at the coroner's inquiry that the remains of the deceased had been taken out of the plane toilet by removing its doors after the planed nanded at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake.

Additional Judicial Medical Officer of the Negombo Base Hospital Dr. Malintha de Silva who conducted the postmortem confirmed that death was due to heart failure.

The wife of the deceased Mrs Janaki Sanjaya Rambukpotha (50) said that both of them left Melbourne at about 3.25 pm UL Flight 604 on March 6 to reach Sri Lanka to attend her husband's nephew's wedding.

She said while on the flight to Colombo, she had fallen asleep and when she woke up, she heard the pilot making an announcement seeking assistance from any doctors on board the flight,to assist them to treat a passenger who was fallen unconscious in the toilet.

She said that she saw her husband been examined by doctors and surrounded by flight staff. She added that the doctors subsequently confirmed her husband's death. "However due to his obesity he was unable to be taken out," she said.

"When the flight landed at the Katunayake airport, the toilet had to be dismantled in order to take his body out."

At the inquiry held by Coroner Dr. Siri Jayantha Wickramaratne, Mrs Rambukpotha said that her husband was a businessman while she was a kindergarten teacher.

She added that her husband was a heavy drinker and smoker and was also a diabetic.

She had she had no suspicions about her husband's death.

When queried, SriLankan Airlines Media Department Manager Deepal Perera stated that SriLankan Airlines wished to express its sincere condolence to the bereaved family.

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