mbj
11-30-2007, 09:01 AM
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* Police informed about a suspicious parcel but fail to
arrive for 30 mins.
* 17 Killed, 33 Injured
By Kurulu Kariyakarawana, Yohan Perera and Easwaran Rutnam
At least 17 people were killed and another 33 seriously injured when a suspected LTTE parcel bomb went off in a leading clothes shop in Nugegoda town last evening, hours after the failed LTTE suicide bomb attack on Minister Douglas Devananda’s office.
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/387/nug2iy9.jpg
The suspicious parcel, which had been found among the other parcels kept at a baggage counter attached to the “No Limit” clothing store, situated on S de S Jayasinghe Road connecting with Nugegoda High Level Road (at the Bo tree junction), exp loded around 5.55pm.
Employees of “No Limit” told the media that their security officers detected a suspicious parcel in the form of a box with several wires inside, at the baggage counter around 5.00pm .
The “No Limit” authorities had reported the incident to the Mirihana police immediately, but no police had arrived for over 30 minutes.
Since the police had not responded, the “No Limit” security personnel had informed a Traffic Police Constable who was near the shop of the suspicious parcel. When the constable and the security guards had tried to examine the parcel it had exp loded.
Mirihana police said Traffic Constable Nuwan (22) of Kurunegala, who was attached to the Nugegoda Police Post had been killed on the spot while he was examining the parcel.
According to eyewitnesses a loud blast had occurred, followed by dense black smoke. Several bodies were seen scattered around the area and the surrounding buildings had suffered severe damage. The traffic lights were shattered and 13 motorcycles, which had been parked on the pavement at the time of the blast, were on fire.
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6071/nug3po2.jpg
Almost 100 commuters had been nearby at the time of the exp losion -- waiting for buses bound for Galle Road , since the main bus halting place on S de S Jayasinghe Road in Nugegoda is located there. People arriving at the scene after the exp losion had rushed the injured and the corpses to Kalubowila hospital.
Meanwhile, police spokesman, Senior DIG Jayantha Wikramaratne, told the Daily Mirror that security in the area had been intensified and several police teams from Mirihana and Kohuwala had started investigations and were recording the statements of the eyewitnesses. The Kalubowilla Hospital was in pandemonium with dead bodies and casualties coming in after the blast last evening. A large number of people had also rushed in to look for their loved ones. Screams filled the air.
Hospital Director W. G. Gunawardene and his team were seen busily treating the injured who were being rushed in. Some of the eyewitnesses, meanwhile, gave an account of what took place at the blast.
Percy Godwin, who was with his wife and child in a shoe shop nearby, had seen glass breaking after a loud exp losion. According to Percy, the electricity in the shop had gone off. Just then he had grabbed his wife and come out of the shop to see 10 motorbikes catching fire instantly. “I also saw two people falling, after catching fire. They were desperately trying to get up but failed,” he said. He had also seen a schoolgirl in uniform. “This girl tried to get up but I don’t know what became of her as there was thick smoke around,” he added. He had rushed his wife to hospital, as she had been unable to walk.
“We later found that my wife’s back was injured as blood was gushing out,” he added.
Upamali Perera a five-year-old girl said she had come to her grandmother’s place with her parents to attend a Bodhi Puja at the Temple and the blast took place as they were on their way. She was crying out calling for her parents when her grandmother arrived. She was seen trying to console her and assuring her that her parents were safe. However, she said she had been able to cont act the child’s father but did not know what had become of her mother.
Thraka Buddhika, a 12-year-old boy, said he came to ‘No Limit’ with his two sisters and his mother when the blast occurred. He said they had not been allowed to go into the shop, as there was a suspicious parcel.
Those identified among the killed in Nugegoda
The following is the list of those identified among those killed in the Nugegoda blast:-
1) M B P S Kumara (Kohuwela Army Camp)
2) Nuwan (Mirihana Police)
3) Hettige Priyantha (Meegoda)
4) Vidanage Sanjaya Pushpakumara (Imaduwa)
5) Mohamed Rasindu (Wathupitiwala)
6) Mohamed Mohideen (Hemmatha gam a)
7) Dombagahawage Nadeeka (Dompe)
8) A T M Hewage (Beddagana)
9) Denipitiya Vidanage Keshini (Gampaha)
10) Vichithra Sirimalee
11) Kshanika Oshadhi (Kottawa)
12) Anjana Anushka (Nava gam uwa)
Five more bodies are beyond recognition.
* Police informed about a suspicious parcel but fail to
arrive for 30 mins.
* 17 Killed, 33 Injured
By Kurulu Kariyakarawana, Yohan Perera and Easwaran Rutnam
At least 17 people were killed and another 33 seriously injured when a suspected LTTE parcel bomb went off in a leading clothes shop in Nugegoda town last evening, hours after the failed LTTE suicide bomb attack on Minister Douglas Devananda’s office.
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/387/nug2iy9.jpg
The suspicious parcel, which had been found among the other parcels kept at a baggage counter attached to the “No Limit” clothing store, situated on S de S Jayasinghe Road connecting with Nugegoda High Level Road (at the Bo tree junction), exp loded around 5.55pm.
Employees of “No Limit” told the media that their security officers detected a suspicious parcel in the form of a box with several wires inside, at the baggage counter around 5.00pm .
The “No Limit” authorities had reported the incident to the Mirihana police immediately, but no police had arrived for over 30 minutes.
Since the police had not responded, the “No Limit” security personnel had informed a Traffic Police Constable who was near the shop of the suspicious parcel. When the constable and the security guards had tried to examine the parcel it had exp loded.
Mirihana police said Traffic Constable Nuwan (22) of Kurunegala, who was attached to the Nugegoda Police Post had been killed on the spot while he was examining the parcel.
According to eyewitnesses a loud blast had occurred, followed by dense black smoke. Several bodies were seen scattered around the area and the surrounding buildings had suffered severe damage. The traffic lights were shattered and 13 motorcycles, which had been parked on the pavement at the time of the blast, were on fire.
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6071/nug3po2.jpg
Almost 100 commuters had been nearby at the time of the exp losion -- waiting for buses bound for Galle Road , since the main bus halting place on S de S Jayasinghe Road in Nugegoda is located there. People arriving at the scene after the exp losion had rushed the injured and the corpses to Kalubowila hospital.
Meanwhile, police spokesman, Senior DIG Jayantha Wikramaratne, told the Daily Mirror that security in the area had been intensified and several police teams from Mirihana and Kohuwala had started investigations and were recording the statements of the eyewitnesses. The Kalubowilla Hospital was in pandemonium with dead bodies and casualties coming in after the blast last evening. A large number of people had also rushed in to look for their loved ones. Screams filled the air.
Hospital Director W. G. Gunawardene and his team were seen busily treating the injured who were being rushed in. Some of the eyewitnesses, meanwhile, gave an account of what took place at the blast.
Percy Godwin, who was with his wife and child in a shoe shop nearby, had seen glass breaking after a loud exp losion. According to Percy, the electricity in the shop had gone off. Just then he had grabbed his wife and come out of the shop to see 10 motorbikes catching fire instantly. “I also saw two people falling, after catching fire. They were desperately trying to get up but failed,” he said. He had also seen a schoolgirl in uniform. “This girl tried to get up but I don’t know what became of her as there was thick smoke around,” he added. He had rushed his wife to hospital, as she had been unable to walk.
“We later found that my wife’s back was injured as blood was gushing out,” he added.
Upamali Perera a five-year-old girl said she had come to her grandmother’s place with her parents to attend a Bodhi Puja at the Temple and the blast took place as they were on their way. She was crying out calling for her parents when her grandmother arrived. She was seen trying to console her and assuring her that her parents were safe. However, she said she had been able to cont act the child’s father but did not know what had become of her mother.
Thraka Buddhika, a 12-year-old boy, said he came to ‘No Limit’ with his two sisters and his mother when the blast occurred. He said they had not been allowed to go into the shop, as there was a suspicious parcel.
Those identified among the killed in Nugegoda
The following is the list of those identified among those killed in the Nugegoda blast:-
1) M B P S Kumara (Kohuwela Army Camp)
2) Nuwan (Mirihana Police)
3) Hettige Priyantha (Meegoda)
4) Vidanage Sanjaya Pushpakumara (Imaduwa)
5) Mohamed Rasindu (Wathupitiwala)
6) Mohamed Mohideen (Hemmatha gam a)
7) Dombagahawage Nadeeka (Dompe)
8) A T M Hewage (Beddagana)
9) Denipitiya Vidanage Keshini (Gampaha)
10) Vichithra Sirimalee
11) Kshanika Oshadhi (Kottawa)
12) Anjana Anushka (Nava gam uwa)
Five more bodies are beyond recognition.