For Sri Lanka Grave Digger, A Grim Parade

Colombo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Apr, 2019 ) :Piyasri Gunasena rarely digs more than one grave a day at the Madampitiya cemetery in Sri Lanka's capital. On Tuesday, two days after the deadly Easter bomb attacks, he had dug 10 by mid-afternoon.

"This has been the busiest time -- even during the war, it wasn't so busy -- only the odd funeral for a soldier," he said, referring to the country's bloody and decades-long Tamil insurgency.

On an average day at the Colombo cemetery, Gunasena cuts the grass, checks the condition of the graves, and if needed, digs a fresh burial site.

"Police have not released all the remains yet but I think we will be busy for a while," he said as he dug his tenth grave of the day.

Gunasena has found it harrowing, despite his decades of experience.

Among the victims whose grave he dug Tuesday was an 11-month baby boy, and he said he had struggled to steady his hands as he worked.

"Every time I dig a grave for a child I think of my own granddaughter and I feel like crying," the 48-year-old told AFP, as sweat soaked his grimy t-shirt and tattered shorts.