Bomb Blast in Dehiwala (Forth Edition)

At Least 8 killed including Pregnant mother

Updated 4: At least 8 dead and over 60 wounded. Among the dead is a pregnant mother. 14 of the wounded are in critical condition. Many hospitalized due to shock.

The blast bears all hallmarks of a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attack.

(May 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian at 5.20 PM SLT) An Explosion occurred in side the Colombo-Panadura train whiles it reaching to the Dehiwala railway station short while ago, 26 May.

According to the available information the explosion took place around 4.55 p.m and the victims were being rushed to the hospitals.

The explosion had gone off in the forth compartment of the train while other compartments had not been damaged in the blast, initial reports said.

As the train had reached the Dehiwala station most of the passengers from the compartment had got off, according to eyewitnesses.

“The Casualties would have been much higher, but as most of the passengers got off from this particular compartment the casualties were less”, Ranjith Sugathapala, a passenger said.

In the Past on 24 July 1996 two bombs ripped through a crowded train in Dehiwela Railway station. 70 People were killed. The attack, which also wounded upwards of 500 commuters devastated two carriages of the south bound train just as it was leaving the suburban station Dehiwala after stopping there for 15 minutes.