“ The cause of the mayhem was the explosion of a car bomb at 5.20 p.m. at the main bus stand in Pettah when peaceful, hard working people, men and women, were awaiting with stoic patience their turn to board overcrowded buses and vans, to wend their weary way home.”__________________________
by Dr. B.J. Masakorala
(April 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I t was barely a week after the Sinhala and Hindu New Year, (when virtually the whole country is on holiday) April 21, 1987. Life was slowly returning to normal and my wife and I decided on a shopping expedition. We had proceeded less than a mile when my 'pager' registered an urgent summons, to get to the Accident Service of the General Hospital without delay.
The sight that met our eyes near and around the precincts of the hospital was one of chaos and confusion, a Dantean scene, with the dead, near dead, the dying and the maimed, being brought in their numbers in ambulances, vans, cars and cabs by anonymous samaritans.
As the Triage Officer on this day, it was my responsibility to separate the dead and 'group' the injured.
The cause of the mayhem was the explosion of a car bomb at 5.20 p.m. at the main bus stand in Pettah when peaceful, hard working people, men and women, were awaiting with stoic patience their turn to board overcrowded buses and vans, to wend their weary way home.
The car bomb exploded at this crowded venue killing 111 people: 79 of them died at the scene and on their way to the hospital, another 25 breathed their last within 30 minutes of admission, and seven, after treatment at the hospital.
The injuries were due to:
I . The primary effect of the bomb; the blast, the flash and shrapnel.
2. Secondary effects brought about by collapsing buildings, flying debris and fires from exploding petrol tanks of vehicles.
The wards of the Accident Service had to bear the intrusion and thrust of 63 bodies, 25 dying patients and 249 injured within a space of 30 to 45 minutes. Naturally, this created administrative and primary management problems which were sorted out with the ingenuity of all medical and paramedical staff who were available at that time. In this time of crisis bureaucratic rules and other obstructions were done away with so much so that there were no registration formalities for the victims.
The Director of the Hospital who worked as tirelessly as the others arranged for a medical ward to treat those with mild and moderate injuries. While the dead and those who died within the first 30 minutes were counted, registration of the rest commenced the following morning. Data sheets were prepared and attached to the clinical notes of all the patients. These sheets listed the name, age, sex, registration number, the nature of injury and any other details collected by doctors attached to the unit of the Triage Officer.
It needs to be mentioned that these sheets are preserved. A few of the injured, however, would have left before registration and hence the count on admission is probably more than recorded.
Extent of the disaster
The statistics given below highlight the horrific nature of the aftermath of the explosion.
Categories of the dead
1. No. of bodies brought direct to the medico-legal morgue-16
2. No. of bodies brought to the Accident Service of the Colombo General Hospital-63
3. No. dying during the first 30-45 minutes 25
4. Dead after treatment 07
Total 111
Causes of deaths - Result of post mortem examination
1. Burns 17
2. Cranio-facial injuries 36
3. Multiple injuries 30
4. Shock and haemorrhage 17
5. Haemopulmothorax.. 05
6. Haemopericardium.. 01
7. Decapitation 02
8. Constricted lung 01
9. Shock 01
Total 111
It is believed that the bomb was time activated and placed in a parked car by the LTTE.
The fact that order was restored from a scene of utter confusion at the Accident Service is testimony to the diligence of the surgeons, medical consultants, house officers, nurses, attendants and indeed all the other staff of the General Hospital and the unknown volunteers who helped and cared for the victims to the best of their ability.
It is said that a leopard will not change its spots and also that many wolves wear sheeps' clothing. In this context it is hoped that the LTTE Tiger will discard its stripes and attire itself in desired apparel that signifies peace, now and forever.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
Dr. Masakorala provides a detailed description of the events unfolded after the haunted bomb explosion in Pettah, occurred two decades ago. While he was a respected senior physician at Colombo General Hospital at the time of explosion, I was a third year medical student at Colombo Medical School. My cousin brother, who grew up next door, attended the same school and shared soft-ball, road cricket with me for 21 years in Kelaniya, did not come home after the blast. Immediately after the emergency was lifted in the following morning at 6 am, we went on looking for him, listening to hearsay, from one hospital ward to another. Finally, after excluding one by one, I recognized his mutilated body lying on the ground, among the other nearly one hundred headless, limbless innocent victims and burnt flesh in the morgue, behind the Colombo Medical School. His body had possibly every injury that could be attributed to a bomb explosion.
My cousin, who had peaceful dreams about his future, was one of the hard working young men described by Dr. Masakorala. He decided to go to work in that fateful afternoon as he loved his job.
Two decades later, despite the healing strength of the religion, his absence has left a vacuum in our lives. Our hearts bleed when we see, hear and read about other young and old, men and women and who continue to follow a similar fate in Sri Lanka even in 2008.
“All fear violence, life is dear to all. Seeing the similarity to oneself, one should not use violence or have it used.”
Dhammapada
Mevan Wijetunga, MD
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