A parcel bomb killed at least 17 persons and injured over 35 others at a popular cloth store in the Colombo suburb of Nugegoda on Wednesday while another bomb was defused in nearby Navinna, even as a Tamil minister survived a LTTE woman suicide bomber for the fifth time, who managed to blow up his aide and herself in his office in the Sri Lankan capital.
The Sri Lanka government has announced closure of schools in the entire western region and stepped up vigil at all checkposts. "A parcel bomb blew up in the cloth store — No Limit — killing 17 people in Nugegoda," Army spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakara said. Eyewitnesses reported a huge explosion around six in the evening, followed by fire and people screaming. The cloth store and even the neighbouring buildings suffered damage. Most of the victims had suffered severe burn injuries. Five casualties, among them a policeman and a schoolgirl, were rushed to a Colombo hospital, they said.
Official sources also said another bomb was defused at Navinna, close to Nugegoda, shortly after the cloth store blast. Both the places are predominantly Sinhala-populated. Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan Tamil minister of welfare and social services Douglas Devananda survived an assassination attempt by the LTTE when a polio-afflicted Black Tigress blew herself up inside his high-security office. A militant-turned-politician, Mr Devananda had launched a political party, Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), to enter the political mainstream and had emerged as a major critic of the LTTE, accusing Prabhakaran of perpetuating death and destruction on the Tamils by rejecting the peace option. In turn, the Tigers placed the minister high on their hit list. The minister lost sight in one eye after an attack by the LTTTE cadres in 1998.