Three days of digging of the coast near Pooneryn in Northern Sri Lanka has not been successful in locating any remains of 31 passengers of an aircraft shot down by the Tamil Tiger terrorist group 14 years ago.

Authorities under a judicial order started digging a vast area of the beach in Kaddarimunai at Iranathivu in Pooneryn on Sunday and the exhumation continued for three days in the area believed to be the burial site of 31 passengers.

The ill-fated Lion Air Flight 602 that took off from Palaly airport in Jaffna with 48 passengers and 8 crew members including two Ukrainian pilots went missing on September 29, 1998 over the Iranativu Island.

It was believed that, the LTTE terrorists in a missile attack shot down the Antonov-24 just ten minutes after it took off from Palaly.

An LTTE cadre in the custody of authorities had revealed that the bodies of 31 victims were buried in the coastal area of Kaddarimunai at Iranathivu in Pooneryn.

According to the police, the fishermen in the area had found 31 bodies of the passengers washed ashore and the village officer of the area had buried them in the beach with the assistance of the fishermen under the orders of the LTTE.

Police sources say that so far the exact place where the burial took place has not been identified. The operation has become difficult since the vastness of the empty area and due to the long period of time passed after the incident, police say.

The exhumation is observed by a special team comprising Kilinochchi Magistrate, Colombo Chief Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Ananda Samarasekera and a number of forensic and archaeological experts.