Desparate Tamil Tigers Explode Another Bomb In Colombo
| A Tamil Tiger terrorist on a suicide mission blew up a mini bus with explosives at a busy intersection in Colombo on Thursday, killing 32 people and wounding over 300. A Defence Ministry statement said "an LTTE terrorist had driven a mini-bus with explosives without passengers and exploded it at Maradana" -- an area with numerous shops, a busy railway station and one of the Sri Lankan capital's larger police stations. | |
| Two School Children Killed, More In Critical List Police and hospital sources said four critically wounded people died in hospital some hours after the lunch-time blast, raising the number of dead to 32. Three others, including two schoolchildren, among the 257 wounded remained critical, they added. Witnesses said at least two vans carrying schoolchildren were caught up in the explosion, and schoolbags stained with blood were seen scattered in the blast area. Police said they believed at least five children had died in the explosion. Two police officers were killed. Dozens flocked to the city's main hospital worried that relatives may have been victims. But they were stopped at the main entrance, leading to arguments with security officials. "How would you feel if this was to happen to your family?" one person in the crowd cried out. Inside the hospital wards there was a tense silence as nurses attended to patients under sedation. "Things are quiet and under control. But there are still many who are in serious condition," a surgeon, Dr. N.Palipana, said. Shrapnel Packed Bomb Exploded Outside A School Hundreds of parents rushed to collect their children from nearby schools after the blast. The explosion, one of the deadliest in the last two years, was the sixth to rock Sri Lanka in as many months since a truck bomb in the car park of a five-star hotel in Colombo's business district last October. The government also blamed the LTTE -- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- for those blasts. The LTTE have been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983. Several vehicles and shops were destroyed or damaged in Thursday's blast. Health Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva told a private radio station several of the wounded had only minor injuries and were treated and sent home. He urged people to stay calm. Police said the bus, with only the driver on board, exploded under a pedestrian bridge near the railway station. The bridge and part of the railway station were damaged, but the police station was unscathed.
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A police officer said the 26-seater bus had been in an accident in the area and police were chasing it when the explosion occurred. "I was on my motorcycle trying to get the bus to stop when it exploded," N.R. Perera said. "A policeman was trying to open the door of the bus when there was a flash. I was thrown away," said Mohammed Mansoor, whose shop and several others were hit by the blast.
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G.T. Pushpakumara, travelling about six vehicles behind, said the bus struck a jeep but did not stop. "The jeep had stopped at a traffic signal and a policeman had got into the jeep. They again went after the bus, but there was a traffic jam and then the bus exploded," he said. Several shops in the area were wrecked, and the iron railing dividing the road and on either side were twisted by the impact of the blast. All that remained of the bus was the smoking chassis. Strewn around nearby were the mangled remains of some 30 other vehicles. Some of the vehicles caught fire, witnesses said. |
| "We deplore the bomb and these acts of terrorism," Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National party said "Having gone and stretched ourselves, we are not in a position to secure our main city. This is a result of the military strategy," he added. The military is on a 10-month campaign to wrest control of a strategic northern highway from the terrorists. Thousands of terrorists and soldiers have been killed or wounded in fierce battles since the offensive began in May last year. |  |
| Sixth Explosion In Last Six Months On
Civilian Targets As The LTTE Loose The War In The North Thursday's explosion comes a month after a suspected Tamil Tiger woman suicide bomber blew herself up with explosives in the capital, killing nine people. In January LTTE guerrillas exploded a truck in the central town of Kandy, killing 16 people and damaging Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist shrine. The blast prompted the government to outlaw the group. In December, a truck exploded in southern Galle town, killing three people and in November LTTE terrorists planted mines on fuel tanks at a power station in a Colombo suburb. |
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