Accidental explosion at Karadiyanaru:

Blast kills 25, injures 52

Police station reduced to rubble:

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

At least 25 policemen were killed and 52 injured when two dynamite-laden trucks parked at the Karadiyanaru police station, Batticaloa accidentally exploded yesterday.

A Chinese engineer and his staff officer (Chinese) died in the accident.

The injured were rushed to the Batticaloa Government Hospital.

Hospital sources said arrangements were being made to airlift some to Colombo.

The trucks belonged to two private construction companies that were carrying infrastructure development and road construction projects in Batticaloa, police said. One is a Chinese company, the China Overseas Engineering Group Company Ltd. The other is V V Karunaratna and Company, police said.

The two trucks were parked at the police station for safety because they contained dynamite sticks.

They were to be used by engineers for rock blasting and road construction, police said. The blast had taken place around 11.30 a.m. The trucks were being moved from where they were parked when they exploded.

The Chinese nationals were inside the truck. One was an engineer and the other was a second staff officer. Both were employees of the China Overseas Engineering Pvt. Ltd, company sources said.

The heads of China Overseas Company were present at the hospital to receive the bodies. Military spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala told the Daily News that a special team led by a government analyst was sent to the area to determine the cause of the accident.

“We can clearly state this is an accident,” he said.

The Karadiyanaru police station was reduced to rubble after the explosion.

Police sources said DIG Eastern Range Thilak Wijegunawardena, who was in Colombo for an official meeting had gone to Batticaloa as soon as he heard about the blast. The number of deaths and the cause of the explosion will be announced based on the report of government analyst, said Madawala.

 President orders probe

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed Acting Defence Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and IGP Mahinda Balasuriya to conduct immediately a formal inquiry into the explosion at Karadiyanaru, Batticaloa. The President also expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of those killed and injured in the explosion.

 Sabotage ruled out

Suraj A. Bandara

The explosion at the Karadiyanaru police station was accidental and not a sabotage by any group, Military Spokesperson major General Ubaya Medawala said.

The situation has been brought under control, Medawala told a media briefing at the Media Centre for National Security yesterday.

The explosion was accidental. Road construction workers of a Chinese company had kept the explosives at the Karadiyanaru Police station. One container with explosives had exploded while being unloaded from the container, he said.

This resulted in the explosion of the trucks, destroying the entire police camp, he said.

Since there is no restriction for civil movement in the area, some civilians who were close to the police premises also became victims of the explosion, Medawala said.

IGP Mahinda Balasuriya said special police and Army teams have been sent to the scene and investigations have begun to examine the root cause for the explosion.