COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Seven Buddhist monks, including three foreigners, were killed when their cable-pulled rail car snapped and crashed down a mountainside in north-western Sri Lanka, police said Thursday.

The victims were crowded into the small makeshift cabin as they headed to meditation units atop a mountain within the vast Na Uyana forest monastery late on Wednesday night, police said.

"There were 13 monks in the car. Two managed to escape with minor injuries, but four others are in a critical condition," a police official told AFP.

He said among the dead were monks from India, Russia and Romania.

Initial reports suggested that the cable had snapped, sending the rail car careering downhill at high speed before it jumped the track and crashed into a tree.

The monastery is located 130 kilometres (81 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo.