Image copyright AFP Image caption Inmates at Colombo jail - more than 400 prisoners are on death row in Sri Lanka 
 
 A newly recruited hangman in Sri Lanka has resigned in shock after being shown the gallows for the first time. The Indian Ocean island nation, a predominantly Buddhist country, has not carried out an execution since 1976, despite the fact that there are at least 405 convicts on death row. The Prisons Department appointed the new hangman, the third most qualified from 176 applicants, last week, months after two hangmen chosen late last year failed to show up for work. Commissioner-General of Prisons Chandrarathna Pallegama told the BBC that the new recruit - reported to be 40 and from the town of Anuradhapura - "got shocked and afraid" after seeing the gallows, which came after several days of training.
– Sri Lanka is looking for a new hangman after its latest recruit quit in horror at his first sight of the gallows. The country's prison commissioner says the man was "shocked and afraid" after seeing the gallows after a week of training, reports the BBC. He is the third hangman to quit in the space of the year. "Next time, we will show the gallows to the new recruits before giving them basic training," the commissioner tells Reuters. Whoever gets the job will be mostly doing clerical work: The country hasn't executed anybody since 1976, though there are more than 400 inmates on death row.