High temperature may have caused soldiers to become dehydrated
[26 Apr 2000]

Army Commander Lieutenant General Srilal Weerasooriya told reporters on Monday that temperatures of nearly 100 degrees (38 Celsius) at Elephant Pass may have caused some soldiers to become dehydrated.

Troops faced a tragic shortage of water after the Tigers attacked Yakachchi, the main water source for the large military base at Elephant Pass, and blew up the electric pumps that supplied water to the camps. Yakachchi, is said to be the only place in the area where ground water wells have fresh water.

An aide of Brigadiers Bhatiya Jayatileka, Lokuliyanage referring to his boss said, "He was so dehydrated that at a hospital where we reached after several hours of trekking and finally by a helicopter, doctors made a cut on his shoulder after they could not find any vein to inject saline".

Army Chief General Weerasooriya was confident of holding on to the northern peninsula.

"We will have to change our tactics an we will do it," he said.

According to General Weerasooriya the decision to withdraw from Elephant Pass was made in the best interests of defending Jaffna.

The army also rejected Tigers claim to have killed over 1,000 soldiers.

However, the death toll has arisen to 214 after the LTTE turned over 126 bodies of soldiers to the ICRC.

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