Sri Lanka, Sept. 1 -- Four persons, including a mother and her child and two relatives' children, drowned after being caught in a sudden rip current while they were swimming off the Pamunugama beachfront on Sunday (30) evening.

According to police, the family from Niwandama, Ja-Ela, who visited the beach once a month, had arrived at the area in front of St. Jude's Church, Epamulla, at around 4:30 pm on August 30. While swimming, they were struck by strong currents at approximately 5:15 pm.

The father and one child managed to escape, but the mother, another child, and two relatives' children went missing.

Search operations were launched overnight and the bodies were recovered yesterday (31) morning from several locations along the coast...