CARNAGE CONTINUES

The mine was hidden in the undergrowth of the marsh area between the Shailabimbaramya Buddhist Temple and the University of Moratuwa, about a kilometre from the Galle Road.

Army officers at the scene of the blast said that the attackers had selected the undergrowth to conceal the mine that was set off using a remote controlled device.

The Tata bus bearing the serial number 29 Sri 1885 was heading towards the Galle Road where most of its passengers packed like sardines would have disembarked. It never got there.

Deafening noise

Around 7.30 on June 6 morning a deafening noise shattered the morning, and the bus came to a screeching halt. By then three bodies lay on the road where they fell when the powerful claymore exploded.

Steal balls, heated to thousands of degrees ripped through innocent passengers. It was a blood bath - there were no other words to describe it. Those who got to the scene first said that there was so much blood on the inside of the bus and near the front footboard, it had dripped on to the tarred road and clotted on the road.

The blast left 20 civilians dead and over 60 injured. Eyewitness accounts of the explosion said that after the blast the bus had travelled about 50 metres before coming to a halt. One of the dead bodies lay where the ill-fated passenger fell after the blast, covered with a white cloth, with spots of blood oozing on to the sheet.

Among the dead were 12 males and eight females. Three hospitals, the Lunawa Hospital south of the attack, the Kalubowila Hospital and the Colombo General Hospital were treating the injured.

Wails of relatives

Outside the Kalubowila Hospital the wails of relatives who just found their loved ones plucked away from them like animals ringed the hospital courtyard. Some fainted in the arms of others, some looked empty, all bore pain searing like hot irons through them.

Police teams moved into the area of the blast and cordoned it off. Another claymore was discovered on Watarappola Road, Mount Lavinia a couple of hours later. Police spokesperson SSP Ranjith Gunasekara said that 38 persons, 31 males and seven females were detained after the blast for questioning.

"The continued targeting of innocent civilians by the LTTE must earn the outrage and opprobrium of all civilised societies, who can now see the reality of the LTTE's unwavering commitment to violence and terror to achieve its narrow objectives," President Mahinda Rajapakse said condemning the attack

"This brutality also shows the efforts of the LTTE to provoke a backlash against the Tamil people, from which it hopes to gain, although the Tamil people themselves are held in thrall by the terror of its so-called liberator," he was to also say.

Gas canister explosion

 Panic stricken citizens watched nervously as they stepped onto the roads. A gas canister explosion created panic in Nugegoda. The uneasy calm only held for hours.

By 4.05 p.m news came that a bomb had exploded inside a bus in Kandy. The bus bearing registration CP HG-7503 travelling from Wattegama to Kandy was caught in the blast which had occurred inside the vehicle at Polgolla around 3.50 in the afternoon.

Two civilians were dead and over 20 injured in the attack. The Defence Ministry said one suspect connected with the explosion was taken into custody soon after the blast.

Friday's twin blasts came 48 hours after a failed attempt to blow up another train travelling on the southern coastal track, just out of Colombo.

Thirty year old  Jayatheesan Balasubra-manium got on to the train at Ratmalana on June 4 morning with mayhem in mind, according to the army.

Panicked

He wanted to place explosives within the compartment and trigger it through a remote control device, But, when he saw security personnel inside the carriage he panicked.

"An instant change of mind amidst excitement forced him to get off near Wellawatte, as the train slowed down while simultaneously committing the crime by throwing the bomb under the train, but the plan did not work as anticipated, instead the bomb hit the track when his hand-held remote-controller was activated in fear," the army said.

He fled in panic. Some reports said that a three-wheel driver had given chase but he got away. The army said that he ran to the Galle Road, took a bus to Dehiwela and later some how got in to a bus to reach Vavuniya that night itself.

But he left a bag, within which there were a mobile phone, a book with drawings of electrical circuits and an ID card with his picture.

He got as far as Irrataperiyakulam, about 10 km. from Vavuniya where he tried to seek the safety of other passengers to avoid detection. An alert Civil Defence Officer, Nandawathi spotted his nervous face and confronted him. He bluffed and then took to his heels, but was soon caught.

His attempt to kill innocent civilians was thwarted, but his arrest did not deter others from doing so.

The spate of bomb attacks have also now put in jeopardy the SAARC Summit scheduled to be held next month with diplomatic missions of the member nations taking stock of the situation and doing a security appraisal whether it is safe for their leaders to arrive in Colombo.

The public transport nightmare

By Arthur Wamanan

Friday's attack on a bus in Katubedda was the 12th occasion where civilians were targeted in the country so far this year. Within hours the 13th was also to occur in Polgolla, Kandy.

Travelling in public transport has of late become a nightmare with each passenger eyeing his or her fellow passengers with suspicion, especially when he or she carries a bag.

The attacks have so far claimed 145 lives and have injured more than 200.

The statistics also include civilians killed in bomb attacks in the Tiger controlled-areas.

Friday's attack claimed 22 lives and injured more than 85. The injured persons were rushed to the Kalubowila and Lunawa hospitals.

Twenty killed

Director of the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital Dr. Wilfred Kumarasiri told The Sunday Leader that the bodies of 20 victims killed in Friday's blast were in the hospital and another 59 were receiving treatment. Four others who were critically injured were transferred to the Colombo National Hospital for further treatment.

Out of the 16 injured persons  admitted to the Lunawa hospital, eight  were transferred to Kalubowila Hospital.

The police on Friday said inquiries were  in progress with several police teams appointed to investigate  the claymore attack on the civilian bus.

According to the police, the blast had taken place between 7.30-7.45 a.m  - the peak time where buses are packed with commuters going to schools or workplaces.

No school children were killed or injured due to the attack through sheer luck. However, an undergraduate of the Moratuwa University  who was awaiting his results after his final examinations at the campus, was killed in the attack.

The victim was not studying at the campus anymore, but had been working until his final results were released by the campus.

By the roadside

The bus (route No. 255) had been on its way to Mount Lavinia from Kottawa at the time of the blast.

The Defence Ministry said the claymore was placed on the roadside between Shailabimbaramya Buddhist Temple and the Moratuwa campus.

It was reported that two students from the Moratuwa campus were arrested by the police on suspicion following the blast. Police Spokesperson SSP Ranjith Gunasekara denied reports that students from the Moratuwa University were arrested in connection with the blast.

According to the spokesperson, 38 persons including 31 men and seven women had been taken in for questioning.

"No one has been arrested so far," he said.

It was initially reported that eight police teams had been appointed to investigate into the incident.

The police however stated that the state of investigations couldn't be divulged as the police teams were in the process of investigating the attack.

Many police teams

"There are many police teams conducting investigations on different aspects. We cannot say as to how many teams have been appointed," SSP Gunasekara said.

The Moratuwa University was closed for four hours on Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as a security measure in order to cooperate with the security forces conducting their search operations and investigations. A search was carried out within university premises also, but details of the outcome were not made public.

Students who had arrived for lectures midday were forced to be outside the campus premises till the gates were opened.

All the students were thoroughly checked as the police and the security forces suspected that the killer could be hiding within the premises.

 Tamil students who were staying at the campus hostel have left for their homes for the weekend fearing repercussions due to the blast.

No incidents reported

No incidents were reported from the campus soon after the blast, but the students left the campus fearing that the situation could get worse during the weekend.

Security in Colombo and suburbs was intensified following the threat of attacks on public transport this year. The military had also conducted several programmes around the country to educate civilians on facing such situations.

Police and security forces have been conducting snap checks on vehicles in Colombo as a measure to increase security in and around the city. Of the 13 occasions on which bomb blasts occurred, civilian casualties were averted thrice due to the vigilance of passengers and bus operators.

Major disasters were averted when alert passengers tipped off the bus crews  of bombs in Mount Lavinia on February 23 and in Kadawatha and Moratuwa on May 24.