Uruthirapuram village is situated in the Kilinochchi district. The Koolavadi market serves the villages of Uruthirapuram and Sivanagar. 04.02.1991 is the Independence Day for Sri Lanka and it was celebrated in the south of the island. On that day Sri Lankan Air Force bombers circled the Koolavadi market. People ran in all directions trying finding a safe place. The bombers dropped four bombs and three of them exploded.
Several people had gone under the bridge hoping it to be a safe place. One
of the bombs exploded near the bridge and nine people under the bridge were
killed. The funerals of those were held the next day. During the funeral more bombs
were dropped in the area. A memorial for those killed was built by the villagers in 2002 at the Koolavadi
junction. Kandaih Sundaralingam of Uruthirapuram says, “I lost two children on 04.02.1991 when Sri Lankan Air Force dropped several bombs at Koolavadi junction.”
Available names of victims (name, occupation, age)
1. Vinayagamoorthy Karunakaran, Worker, 29
2. Suntharalingham Santhirakumar, Student, 16
3. Penalso Thayaparan, Student, 12
4. Kopalasingham Jeyakobal, Seller, 20
5. Murugesu Tharmalingham, Worker, 38
6. Panchchalingham Palenthiran, Seller, 23
7. Panchchalingham Palenthira, Seller, 22
8. Palasingham Jegatheeswaran, Student, 15
9. Kanapathipillai Jeyalingham, Student, 08
10. Kanapathipillai Jeyasingham, Student, 09
11. Nagalingham Thayaparan, Student, 14