Kebithigollewa blast death toll rises to 16
Rafik Jalaldeen
The death toll from the LTTE claymore explosion rose to 16 when
another civilian succumbed to his injuries at the Anuradhapura hospital
yesterday morning. The claymore targeted a civilian bus on Wednesday
night in Abhimanapura, Kebithigollewa.
A CTB bus plying from Anuradhapura to Padaviya was caught in the LTTE
claymore mine on Wednesday around 8.15 pm killing 15 civilians including
two soldiers and three women and injuring 23 others.
"The target was undoubtedly the civilian bus and this road was not
used to transport Security Forces Personnel," Military spokesman
Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
He reiterated that the LTTE has no concern for civilian life and they
continue killing civilians travelling in public buses and placing bombs
in the public places.
The LTTE also uses civilians as a human shield in their fight against
the Security Forces.
"The Tigers exploded a bomb in Nugegoda brutally killing 20 civilians
and injuring many others. In a similar manner, the LTTE detonated a
claymore mine targeting innocent civilians travelling in a public bus on
Wednesday night in Kebithigollewa just a week after the Nugegoda bomb
blast," he added.
Brigadier Nanayakkara said the LTTE terrorists planted two claymore
mines fixed together on the left side of the road targeting the CTB bus.
The death toll rose to 16 civilians from the explosion and 12 victims
were identified. "Another civilian succumbed to injuries at around 10.30
am yesterday," he said.
Meanwhile, an injured civilian was admitted to Colombo National
Hospital while another 16 and four are being treated at the Anuradhapura
and Kebithigollewa hospitals respectively. The Army and Police are
conducting search operations in the area.
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Thirteen bodies identified
ANANDA PATHIRAJA
Kebethigollewa Magistrate Samantha Manchanayake held the inquiry into
the deaths of the 15 people killed in Wednesday's LTTE bus bomb
explosion at the Kebethigollewa Hospital yesterday.
Of the 15 killed, the bodies of 13 persons were identified by their
relatives. Two bodies have not been identified yet and one of them was
of a resident from Ampara it was revealed at the inquiry.
The Magistrate ordered the hospital authorities to hand over the
identified bodies to the relatives and to keep the two unidentified
bodies till relatives arrive to identify and claim them. The Disaster
Management Centre in a media release has expressed its condolences to
family members of the victims of the Kebithigollewa blast on December 5. |