Scores wounded in Sri Lanka blast

04/06/2008| IslamWeb

At least 17 people have been wounded in a bomb attack on a packed train during rush-hour just outside Sri Lanka's capital, officials said.

The bomb exploded on Wednesday between Colombo's Wellawatte and Dehiwela areas when the train was rolling past, Ranjith Gunasekera, a police spokesman, said.

Doctors said 18 people were admitted to hospital on Wednesday.

"The train was packed. There were about 1,500 passengers, mostly office workers travelling from Panadura (south of Colombo) to the city," S K Jayawardene, the train's driver, told an AFP news agency photographer at the scene.

"All those injured were in the second carriage behind the engine," Jayawardene said.

Wave of attacks

The wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals, Gunasekera said.

The bomb, which weighed around 5kg, had been laid on a stretch of track parallel to where the train was passing, police commandos at the scene told AFP.

Colombo has been hit by a string of recent bombings, with officials blaming the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Last month, a bomb aboard a crowded commuter train killed 11 people during the evening rush-hour just outside Colombo.

Sri Lanka's defense ministry did not say who was responsible for Wednesday's attack.

PHOTO CAPTION

Sri Lanka map

Al-Jazeera