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In a formerly war-torn northern region of Sri Lanka, a mass grave site has yielded a schoolbag and a baby bottle among 141 human skeletons, including some that appear to be of children.
The discoveries were made at a cremation ground in the Chemmani area near Jaffna town, the cultural centre of the country's ethnic Tamil minority.
Excavations have been underway since June, after workers found human remains while digging to build an electric crematorium.
A pit test over nine days discovered 19 sets of human remains. According to a court report, shallow burials of about 4.9 feet in a disorganised manner and the absence of clothing indicate the site was a mass grave.
Since the digging began, a total of 141 skeletons have been discovered within a 1,776-square-foot area, with around 135 of the bodies found with no clothing.
Authorities found that a skeleton found with a schoolbag was that of a girl between 4 and 6 years old.
The identities, cause and timing of the dead are unclear; however, many believe that the victims are civilians who disappeared during Sri Lanka's civil war.
Notably, the war broke out in 1983 between government forces and ethnic Tamil rebels who wanted an independent homeland. The war ended in 2009.
The area, including the cremation ground, was under Sri Lankan military control from 1996, when it captured Jaffna from the rebels, until after the war ended.
Army spokesman Brig. Waruna Gamage said no one has formally accused the army for the mass grave, and if they did, they would need to show proof.
A 2003 report by Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission revealed that it investigated 281 complaints of missing persons from 1990 to 1998, from which three were found in prisons and later released, while the rest remained unaccounted for.
