By Sarath Malalasekera, Paneetha Ameresekere and Bharatha Mallawaarachchi
Thirty two persons were killed and another 252 were wounded, when a powerful bomb in a private bus was detonated near the Maradana Junction on the Maradana Road, around 12.40 pm yesterday, police said.
The overhead bridge at Maradana, connecting T.B. Jayah Mawatha (Darley Road), with Panchikawatte, was also damaged in the explosion. Several shops in an around the area were also damaged.
The explosives laden bus, a white Rosa model, was occupied by only its driver, SI N.A.R. Perera, attached to the Maligawatte Traffic Branch, who had given chase to the vehicle from Panchikawatte said.
He said that the bus, a shortwhile before the blast, had hit a private jeep belonging to a company called Siri Motors at Panchikawatte Road. "The accident had occurred about 1,000 metres from the scene of the blast," Perera said.
The bus had continued on its journey without stopping after the accident. The police officer had given chase to the bus, with the driver ignoring calls to stop the vehicle.
The SI said that the driver had been wearing a white shirt. He had even ridden his bike parallel to the bus a shortwhile before the blast, shouting at the driver to stop, but he had continued without uttering a word. The driver of the bus had apparently been strapped into his seat, eye-witnesses said.
The bus had then got caught up in the Maradana Road Traffic, when the vehicle exploded. The jeep with which the bus had had an accident was also caught up in the blast.
The ill-fated jeep had been a few yards ahead of the bus at the time of the explosion. SI Perera had escaped unscathed. Around 20 vehicles in an around Maradana Junction were badly damaged in the explosion.
