Situation in the country's central hilly tea plantation town of Kandapola in Nuwara Eliya district has returned normal following the field work of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse on Thursday, the official Daily News said on Friday.

Following communal clashes at Kandapola on Wednesday night, President Chandrika Kumaratunga took swift action by sending Prime Minister Rajapakse and other senior officials there to diffuse the prevailing tension in the area.

Violence erupted at Kandapola on Wednesday night when two groups belonging to the majority Sinhala community and the estate Tamil community clashed after a road mishap involving a bus and a three wheeler.

Police said that two plantation workers of Indian origin Tamils were killed and two policemen and two soldiers injured as police opened fire to control an angry mob of about 1,000 who set fire toshops, police vehicles and houses in the clashes which lasted till dawn Thursday.

Security measures have been taken to prevent further violence and an indefinite curfew is in place in the troubled area.

Source: Xinhua