A Facebook post shared an image purportedly showing a cluster of five to six skeletal remains lying together in a single pit, claiming that it was connected to the ongoing excavation of a mass grave in Chemmani. The third phase of court-supervised excavations at the Chemmani–Sinthupathi mass grave site in Jaffna, the second-largest discovered in Sri Lanka, continues to uncover human remains almost daily. The discoveries have once again drawn attention to long-standing allegations of extrajudicial killings linked to Sri Lanka’s civil conflict.
The image was widely shared on Facebook and X with various emotional captions in Tamil, including: “The Status of Chemmani Mass Grave Excavation on 07.06.2026,” “Six members of the same family were buried alive together in a single pit,” “Six skeletons recovered from a single pit,” and “Chemmani – Justice being forgotten!”
The posts can be seen here, here, here, here, and here.
Evidence
To verify whether the image circulating on social media was genuine, we conducted a keyword search and found that a cluster of six skeletons was indeed identified in a single pit on June 8, 2026, during ongoing excavations at the Chemmani mass grave site in Jaffna.
A video published by ADA DERANA Tamil on YouTube on June 8, 2026, shows Attorney V.S. Niranjan, representing the victims’ families in the Chemmani mass grave case, speaking to the media. He stated that during the nineteenth day of the third phase of court-supervised excavations, four new skeletons were exhumed and sixteen additional human skeletons were identified.
According to him, with these discoveries, the total number of human skeletons identified across all three phases of excavation increased to 318, while 302 skeletons had been fully exhumed. He further stated that the excavation team identified a human accumulation containing six skeletons, which was assigned Accumulation No. 20. One of the skeletons found in this accumulation was discovered with its legs folded.
However, we noticed that the media shown in the video and in other news reports published by Tamil Guardian and Sri Lanka Brief was different from the viral image. We therefore closely analysed the viral image and compared it with photographs from the actual excavation site.
This led us to conduct a reverse image search of the viral image. The search revealed that the image is not related to Chemmani. Instead, it originates from a mass grave excavation discovered by archaeologists in Nuremberg, Germany, in 2024.
News reports published by CNN, Al Jazeera and Archaeology Magazine clearly identify the image as showing a mass grave of plague victims discovered in Nuremberg, one of the largest such discoveries ever made in Europe. The reports can be seen here, here, here and here.
We also found a Facebook post by Kuman Kana, a photojournalist based in Northern Sri Lanka who documents the excavation site daily for several local and international media outlets. In his post, he clarified that the viral image is not related to the Chemmani mass grave excavation. The actual photographs captured by Kuman Kana on the nineteenth day of the third phase of excavation can be seen here.
Furthermore, while officials have confirmed the number of skeletal remains uncovered during the excavation, no official reports have identified the remains or confirmed who the skeletons belonged to.
About The Chemmani Mass Graves
The Chemmani mass graves are a series of burial sites in northern Sri Lanka that gained international attention due to their links to the country’s civil war and allegations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
The site first came to prominence in 1998 when a Sri Lankan soldier, while on trial for the rape and murder of a Tamil schoolgirl, claimed that hundreds of people who disappeared from the Jaffna peninsula in 1995 and 1996 had been killed and buried in mass graves near Chemmani.
The second phase of excavation at the Chemmani–Sinthupathi burial site in Jaffna was conducted in two stages. A ten-day test excavation, which concluded on June 7, 2025, uncovered at least 19 skeletons. The excavation was launched following a court order after workers clearing land for a construction project in February 2025 discovered fragments of human bones.
The second stage of excavation began on June 26, 2025, and concluded on September 6, 2025. During this period, 240 human skeletal remains were identified.
The third phase of excavation at the Chemmani mass grave resumed on April 28, 2026, and continued uninterrupted for twelve consecutive days until May 9. The excavation was temporarily halted on May 9 and resumed on June 1, 2026. Excavations at the site are continuing, while questions surrounding accountability and justice for the victims remain a subject of public concern.
Verdict
The viral image falsely claims to show a cluster of six skeletons taken during the 2026 Chemmani mass grave excavation. Although a group of six skeletons was identified in a single accumulation at the Chemmani site on June 8, 2026, the image being circulated online is unrelated to the excavation and actually shows a mass grave discovered in Nuremberg, Germany, in 2024.
FAQs
Q1. Does the image show skeletons found at the Chemmani mass grave site?
No.
Q2. Where was the viral image originally taken?
The image was taken during the excavation of a mass grave discovered in Nuremberg, Germany, in 2024.
Q3. Were six skeletons actually found together at the Chemmani site?
Yes. On June 8, 2026, excavation teams identified an accumulation containing six skeletons at the Chemmani mass grave site.
Q4. Have officials identified the individuals whose remains were found at Chemmani?
No. Authorities have confirmed the number of skeletal remains uncovered, but no official reports have identified the individuals or confirmed whom the remains belonged to.
Our Sources
YouTube video by ADA DERANA Tamil, posted on June 8, 2026.
News report by Tamil Guardian, published on June 8, 2026.
News report by Sri Lanka Brief, published on June 8, 2026.
News report by CNN, regarding the Nuremberg mass grave discovery, published on March 6, 2024.
News report by Al Jazeera, regarding the Nuremberg mass grave discovery, published on March 6, 2024.
News report by Archaeology Magazine, regarding the Nuremberg mass grave discovery, published on March 11, 2024.
Facebook post by Kuman Kana, photojournalist based in Northern Sri Lanka, posted on June 9, 2026.
Facebook post by Kuman Kana showing Chemmani excavation photographs, June 8, 2026.
