Colombo, August 24:

Sri Lanka’s president has appointed investigators to probe recent deaths from meningitis allegedly caused by contaminated syringes and other medical equipment, officials said today.

Senior neurologist JB Peiris and Chandra Wickremesinghe, a senior adviser to President Chandrika Kumaratunga, were told to investigate whether the suspected equipment was contaminated and report on their findings, a presidential statement said.