A bomb ripped through a crowded bus just outside Sri Lanka’s capital on Friday, killing at least 24 passengers and wounding more than 50, police said.
The bomb exploded inside a privately owned bus at the Piliyandala bus station, a police spokesperson said, adding that victims were rushed to a nearby hospital.
”At least 10 people died on the spot,” a police official at the scene said. ”Another 14 died on the way to hospital.
”Fifty-two people are being treated in two hospitals,” he added.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the authorities have laid the blame for similar attacks on Tamil Tiger guerrillas, who are fighting for independence in the island’s north-east.
A similar blast in February wounded 18 bus passengers.
In the same month, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels used a parcel bomb to blow up a crowded bus in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 20 people.
The latest blast came as security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in combat in the north of the country where both sides were reported to have suffered heavy casualties. — AFP
