18 dead after Sri Lanka bombing
Tamil Tigers blamed for bus bombing that killed at least 18 people in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.
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Saturday, 02, Feb 2008 05:37
Tamil Tiger rebels have been blamed for a bus bombing that killed at least 18 people killed in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.
A military spokesman has confirmed that at least 50 people have been injured by the blast, which occurred at a bus station in the central Sri Lankan town.
Early reports has suggested 20 people had been killed in the explosion and medical authorities have since said the majority of the fatalities are women.
"There were 18 people killed and not 20 as earlier," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying. He added that local medics had assessed dozens of casualties since the explosion.
As military security intensifies ahead of Monday's celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Sri Lanka's independence from Britain, conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan (LTTE) has increased.
And Brigadier Nanayakkara added: "The explosion is a work of the LTTE."
The Tigers have fought to create an independent state in the island's north and east since 1983 and were blamed for a roadside bomb that killed 27 people in the central town of Buttala three weeks ago.
A six-year ceasefire between the majority-Sinhalese government and the rebel group expired on January 16th.
Local television footage has shown the aftermath of today's explosion in Dambulla -some 150km north of the capital Colombo - with the bus's windows shattered, its body twisted and the roof partly blown off.
Dr Sudarshana Arambegedera, director of Dambulla Hospital, said that 93 people were currently being treated for injuries sustained in the blast.