Manama: A woman who died in Juffair early on Sunday fell to her death from the ninth-floor balcony of an apartment building, it has emerged.
She was identified yesterday as former Sacred Heart School student K D Nimesha Udari Gunasekera, from Sri Lanka.
Ms Gunasekera is the second person to die by falling off a Juffair balcony in less than two months.
The 23-year-old was attending a party at the Class Plaza 2 apartment building to celebrate US Independence Day when she died.
“There were several house parties on Saturday because it was US Independence Day and the tenants were enjoying their day off,” sources told the GDN.
“It was around 2am when people rushed downstairs and reported that a woman had fallen.”
Ms Gunasekera’s body was found face down on the paved car park and pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Police were called as well as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), since the party was being attended by US servicemen.
NCIS officials could not be reached for comment, but it is understood CCTV footage of the incident has been reviewed by investigators.
An Interior Ministry official told the GDN on Sunday that initial investigations indicated “criminal suspicions”, although no details of how she fell have been revealed.
Ms Gunasekera’s brother Oshan said her body would be flown to Sri Lanka for the funeral, but did not wish to comment further.
Friends yesterday took to social media to pay tribute to Ms Gunasekera, who was originally identified as “Candylina” and worked part-time as a swimming instructor at the British School of Bahrain.
She graduated from Sacred Heart School in 2009 and a former schoolmate told the GDN yesterday that she was full of “love and life”.
“She was always seen laughing in the class,” said the friend, who asked not to be named.
“I knew I would always have her backing when I needed her because she was
very helpful.”
Lauren Coombs described her as a “beautiful person inside and out” on her Facebook account.
Another friend Yosef Tayeb posted that he and Ms Gunasekera were planning a donation drive to help poor families in Bahrain.
Friends and loved ones will pay their last respects at Salmaniya Medical Complex from 4pm today and the funeral is expected to take place on Thursday in Sri Lanka.
US Navy sailor Devon J Doyle also died when he fell from a seventh-floor apartment balcony in Juffair on May 16.
A 29-year-old Thai woman who was in the apartment at the time, as well as the building caretaker, told the GDN he was drunk.
sandy@gdn.com.bh
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