Blast blows crowd apart

Press, 23 April 1987, Page 1

Blast blows crowd apart

By -Z'

MARILYN ODCHIMAR of Reuters

coiomoo Police started the grisly task yesterday of clearing human debris strewn round a Colombo bus station after a bomb, blamed on Tamil rebels, killed more than 100 people and injured at least 300 others during Tuesday evening’s rush hour.

State radio broadcast a Government statement appealing for calm and aimed at averting violent retaliation from the Sinhalese majority, after yesterday’s blast in the capital. "We have found a woman’s head this morning. There are other pieces of bodies on the

street and we are now Collecting these bits and pieces,” said a police official. "The death toll could easily reach 150, but there is no confirmation of this yet.”

He said 300 to 400 people were treated in about six hospitals and clinics after the explosion, which blew a hole 3m to 5m wide in the asphalt road.

A Government spokesman said 106 bodies had so far been counted and 295 people treated for injuries. Hundreds of griefstricken people queued outside the hospital mortuary, where there were about 30 bodies, to find whether missing relatives were among the dead.

The Sri Lankan Govern-

ment on Tuesday night launched “Operation Thunderbolt,” a plan involving instant deployment of troops and policemen to avert a communal backlash and prevent further rebel attacks. The Government said two Tamil separatist guerrilla groups were responsible for the rush-hour explosion at the main bus station.

The spokesman said 104 people were rounded up by police on Tuesday night as part of “Operation Thunderbolt” and police were keeping a watchful eye on areas where Tamils usually gathered.

The bomb, estimated by Defence Ministry officials at between 25kg and 30kg, exploded while office workers were rushing home after work during heavy rain. In northern Sri Lanka yesterday Tamil separatists killed a total of 17 Government soldiers and police, an army officer said.

The Associated Press quoted the officer as saying Tamil guerrillas attacked a hotel where soldiers were billeted in Kankesanturai village on the northern Jaffna peninsula. He said eight Tamil attackers were believed killed.