A researcher and tutor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr Chesmal Siriwardhena was on his way home after a night out with friends when he was knocked down by a route N98 bus. The “brilliant” academic who lived in London for over eight years, was pronounced dead shortly after the crash at 2 am.
His friends and colleagues were shaken at the loss and spoke about the “amazing guy” who “worked at the forefront of some of the major public health challenges of the day.” Siriwardhena lived with his girlfriend in Greenwich. He had gained his PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology in 2015 before he became a lecturer in Public Health at the Anglia Ruskin University. One of his friends, Sarah Hormozi, described the 38 year old as “incredibly skilled”, “knowledgeable”, and “incredibly hard-working”.
“I always teased him about working too much, he always had deadlines for funding, and he was leading for global projects. He was a very high-achieving, busy person, so it wasn't easy to see him. I last saw him about a month ago when we went for a drink. I'm just so happy I managed to see him recently. He seemed so happy and content with life and his career was going really well. It's so devastating to see what happened to him,” she said.
Questions have been raised against people's safety at the junction of Oxford Street and Holles Street opposite to where Siriwardhena died. It was named Britain's most dangerous road junction in 2015. A victim of a bus accident, former Africa Commodities Group CEO Tom Kearney, who spent two weeks in a coma in 2009 after being hit by a bus at the same spot. “If someone has died from a bus collision at a junction that has been known for years to be the UK's most dangerous, then, in my opinion, it raises serious questions about the safety culture of TfL's contracted bus operations.”
Investigations have been launched by officers from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Merton Traffic Garage.
Director of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Professor Peter Piot said, “We are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Dr Chesmal Siriwardhena. Chesmal joined the School in 2016 and was a highly regarded researcher and tutor in global mental health. Through his work on armed conflict, migration, and mental health, he was at the forefront of some of the major health challenges of the day.”
