A bomb tore through a packed bus carrying mostly elderly Buddhist pilgrims yesterday in central Sri Lanka, killing 18 people and wounding 51 others, the military said.
The blast inside the bus occurred at 7am in Dambulla, a town about 150km northeast of the capital, Colombo, said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, blaming separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
Bus driver Rohana Wijesiri said he was taking about 100 passengers, mainly elderly women, to the holy city of Anuradhapura.
"When we were passing Dambulla there was a huge blast and the door near my seat got blown away," Wijesiri said.
The top and sides of the bus were ripped apart by the force of the blast. A severed hand could be seen among the blood-stained bags, glass and other debris strewn several meters from the vehicle.
"I do not remember what happened next, but I was running on the road. I saw my conductor fallen on the ground. He too got up and started running with me" Wijesiri said.
"As it [the bus] came near me, I heard thunder. I got thrown away," said Kankeaarachige Michael, a 52-year-old businessman, who was standing by the road when the blast occurred.
"When I saw blood gushing out of my body, I realized its a bomb," Michael said at Dambulla Base Hospital where he was being treated. Michael lost an eye in the blast.
Nanayakkara initially said 20 people had died in the blast, but he later changed the official toll to 18 after gathering more information.
Violence has intensified on this Indian Ocean island, with more than 700 people killed since the government withdrew from a cease fire with Tamil rebels last month.
A spokesman for the rebels could not immediately be reached for comment. The group, listed as a terror organization by the US and EU, routinely denies responsibility for such attacks.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's spokesman condemned yesterday's attack.
"They [the rebels] are targeting innocent civilians as they face defeats in the battle front," Chandrapala Liyanage said.
Before dawn on Friday, the army attacked rebel bunkers in the northern Jaffna peninsula, triggering a battle that killed 10 guerrillas and two soldiers, Nanayakkara said. Six more soldiers were wounded, he said.
Civilians have borne the brunt of the violence over the past month with three attacks on passenger buses killing dozens, including many schoolchildren.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique