Around the World: Sri Lanka

81,000 civilians escape

Thousands more civilians surged out of Sri Lanka's war zone yesterday, while soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels fought the apparent endgame of Asia's longest-running war despite calls to protect those still trapped.

In the third day since troops blasted through a massive earthen wall built by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and unleashed the exodus, the military said 81,420 people had been registered for onward transit to refugee camps.