Chicago, IL, January 31, 1996 (ENN) -- In what is being described as one of the bloodiest terrorist bombings in recent memory, a truck bomb has exploded this morning, devastating the main business district of the capital city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The immense detonation occurred at 10:45a.m. (0515GMT)and may have been preceded by an exchange of gunfire between security forces and the suicide bombers. According to Sri Lankan Heath Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, 55 people were killed in the blast and another 1,200 injured, more than 100 of them seriously.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as one of total chaos, with fires burning out of control and hundreds of people trapped by flames, fallen debris and badly damaged buildings. The truck that exploded was reportedly driven into the front of the Central Bank Building, which manages all of the finances of the country. At least eight (8) other high-rise buildings were also damaged or set ablaze by the explosion, which was called "massive" by police personnel. Military sources said that they believed that the "suicide truck" was loaded with as much as 440 lbs (200kg) of high explosives.
Rescuers were seen crawling through badly damaged cars and into the fronts of smashed buildings, their walls ripped off by the potent burst. The bodies of at least a dozen people were seen lying in the street, many of them dead and disfigured by flying glass and shrapnel generated by the bomb. Pools of blood were seen everywhere. Small mercantile stands that sell cigarettes and sundries, outside the bank building, bore much of the brunt of the initial assault. Many of the dead and injured were probably making small purchases there just moments before they were killed. Soldiers, firefighters, and ambulance personnel were still pulling wounded and disoriented people from the rubble, hours after the detonation. Some fires reportedly were still burning eight (8) hours after the initial incident.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the tragedy, military and police experts are blaming the disaster on the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist group that has been fighting for a independent homeland on the Northeast corner of the island nation. The LTTE has allegedly been responsible for dozens of attacks that have killed as many as 50,000 people, during the past thirteen (13) year of conflict with the central government. Brigadier General Sarath Munasinghe of the Sri Lankan military told the Reuters News service, "It has to be the Tamil Tigers...who else would have done such a thing."
A counter-terrorist source, close to the bombing investigation, told ENN that two suspects had been arrested shortly after the blast, and that a enormous manhunt is now underway to find other members of "the Tigers" who may have participated in the attack. The purposely unidentified officer said that they believed that three (3) insurgents were involved in the original shooting and bombing incident. News reports of a secondary device and explosion have not been confirmed by police sources. The officer concluded his interview with ENN by saying that their greatest fear is that this latest, and biggest, bomb is not the end of violence in Sri Lanka. He said that unless the issues of Tamil independence are resolved, or they are all killed or captured...more bombs are likely to follow.
(c) Emergencynet NEWS Service, 1996
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