Miner involved in hunger strike withdraws due to illness

Colombo (News 1st) - A worker at the Dodangaslanda, Kahatagaha mine who was part of a group that commenced a hunger strike on Tuesday (Jan 21), was removed from the location today due to deteriorating health conditions. The hunger strike is being staged 1132 feet underground. About 60 miners attached to the Dodangaslanda Graphite Lanka Limited Company commenced the hunger strike on Tuesday. They state that they had not received an increase in their basic wage since 2012 and also complained that they only receive 14 days of annual leave. Our correspondent said that officials from the Labour department visited the site today