Sri Lanka mass graves: 230 skeletons found at country's largest site
Tehran (KNA) - Sri Lankan experts say a mass grave found earlier this year in the north-western town of Mannar has turned out to be the country's biggest such site.
More than 230 skeletons have now been found at the grave in the former war zone, up from about 90 in August.
Human rights groups say at least 20,000 people disappeared during Sri Lanka's long civil war which ended in 2009.
The 26-year war between troops and separatist Tamil rebels left at least 100,000 people dead.
A court ordered detailed excavations at the site - a former co-operative depot near the main bus terminus - after human remains were found by workers digging foundations for a new building earlier this year.
It is still not clear who the victims were or how they died.
"We have excavated more than 230 skeletons so far," said Professor Raj Somadeva, a forensic archaeologist from the University of Kelaniya near Colombo who leads the team at the site. "According to my experience this is the largest mass grave ever excavated."
Source: BBC