Two Police Special Task Force (STF) personnel have been killed while five other STF personnel were injured and hospitalized after the Defender they were traveling in crashed last night at Velikulam in Vavuniya.

Police said that the accident had occurred at around 9.30 p.m. last night amidst heavy downpour when the Land Rover Defender belonging to the STF had collided with a cow causing the vehicle to veer off the road and crash into a wall. 

Two personnel attached to the STF camp in Madukanda, Vavuniya have died following the incident while the injured STF personnel have been admitted to the Vavuniya Hospital with two of them said to be in critical condition. 

The deceased have been identified as two Police Constables of the STF aged 29 and 31, who are residents of Kurunegala and Medawachchiya.

Meanwhile, the injured STF personnel included a Sub-Inspector (SI), two Sergeants and a Police Constable who was the driver of the vehicle.  

Vavuniya Police is conducting further investigations into the incident.

In another development, another police constable died last night (Oct. 09) in a motor accident that took place near Puhuriya junction in Colombo-Kurunegala road.

Three on-duty officers attached to the Polgahawela police station had been checking a vehicle when a tipper truck transporting a consignment of sand hit one of the police officers. He was then sent flying and crashed against the cab parked in front of him.

The constable was rushed to the Polgahawela Hospital in critical condition but succumbed to injuries on admission.

The driver of the tipper truck, which had been travelling from Kantale to Kaduwela at the time, has been placed under arrest.

The deceased police officer is reportedly a 45-year-old who was residing in Girabe, Polgahawela.