A light aircraft has made an emergency landing in the Kimbulapitiya area in Negombo this afternoon.
Sri Lanka Air Force spokesman Group Captain Dushantha Wijesinghe told NewsWire that the aircraft belonged to a private company and had operated as a commercial flight at the time of the incident.
The light aircraft was en route to Koggala from Sigirya when it had encountered a technical issue.
Upon informing relevant authorities the aircraft had diverted to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake but was forced to make a short landing in a paddy field area in Kimbulapitiya.
Group Captain Dushantha Wijesinghe said four passengers had been on board at the time of the incident with some having sustained injuries.
The injured passengers have been hospitalized with the assistance of the area residents.
The Sri Lanka Air Force spokesman added that an Air Force rescue team and officials from the Fire Brigade have been dispatched to the location.
Meanwhile, the Negombo Hospital has reported that two of the four injured passengers are foreign nationals.
The hospital said one person had sustained head injuries, while the others are not in a critical state.
The light aircraft that had made the emergency landing is a Cessna 172 aircraft and is owned by the Private Company Sakurai Aviation.
This is the second light aircraft owned by the private company to make an emergency landing within a week.
A light training aircraft with two people on board made an emergency landing on the Payagala beach last week (22). (NewsWire)