A family of five, including two young children, were hacked to death with a sword-like blade north of the capital Colombo overnight in what police said was an attack over a land dispute.
Land disputes in Sri Lanka, particularly in rural areas, have resulted in several bloody attacks in recent years, police said. "Five people of the same family, including a four-year-old and five-year-old, were chopped to death using a sharp instrument, something like a sword," Senior Superintendent of Police Nihal Samarakoon said today from the town of Kadawata, 12 miles (19 km) north of Colombo.
"It appears to be a land dispute. There was already a case pending in the courts."
A 12-year-old girl from the same family who was injured in the attack survived and was admitted to hospital with cut wounds, a hospital source said.
Sri Lanka is no stranger to grisly attacks and massacres, particularly as the death toll from a new chapter in a two-decade war between the state and Tamil Tiger separatist rebels rises daily, but the attack was not related to the conflict, police said.
