Pic:Public health expert Chesmal Siriwardhana was hit and killed by a bus on Oxford Street
Staff reporter(wp/es):
A man killed by a double decker bus in Oxford Street was a “brilliant” academic who led research into major public health challenges.
Dr Chesmal Siriwardhana, a researcher and tutor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, was knocked down by a route N98 bus as he made his way home after a night out with friends.
The 38-year-old, who had lived in London for more than eight years, was pronounced dead shortly after the crash at around 2am on Sunday.
Friends and colleagues today spoke of their devastation at the loss of an “amazing guy” who “worked at the forefront of some of the major public health challenges of the day”.
Dr Siriwardana lived with his girlfriend in Greenwich, south east London, who it is understood he was with shortly before the crash.
He had come to the UK to study at King’s College London in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience as a master’s fellow in 2009 and gained his PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology in 2015.
He then became lecturer in Public Health at the Anglia Ruskin University, before moving to LSTHTM last year.
Among his work he had looked at the mental health needs of people affected by conflict, particularly in his native Sri Lanka.
Friend Sarah Hormozi, 32, who met Dr Siriwardana at King’s in 2009, told the Weastar Times: “He was incredibly skilled and knowledgeable, as well as being 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.”
Ms Hormozi visited his native Sri Lanka with him in 2011 where she met his parents.
She added: “He was an only child – they are the elderly parents of this really amazing guy, with all their hopes were focused on him, and now he’s gone.
“It’s so devastating to think what they must be going through.I am desperate to know what happened.”
Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Dr Chesmal Siriwardhana.
“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 public health challenges of the day.
"His important research helped to improve our understanding of the mental health needs of people affected by conflict, particularly in Sri Lanka, and which services are most effective in supporting them.
"Chesmal was a deeply valued friend, colleague and mentor, and he will be greatly missed. Our sincere condolences go to his family and friends.”
The junction of Oxford Street and Holles Street, opposite where Dr Siriwardana was killed, was named Britain’s most dangerous road junction in 2015.
The Department for Transport data showed 18 people were injured over a eight year period.
Since being hit by a bus at the junction in 2009 and spending two weeks in a coma, former Africa Commodities Group CEO Tom Kearney has campaigned to improve safety for pedestrians on Oxford Street.
He told the Weastar Times: “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.”
Police are appealing for information following the crash. The bus driver, who has not been arrested, stopped at the scene and is assisting with police inquiries.
Officers from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Merton Traffic Garage are investigating.
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