7 killed, 25 injured in Vavuniya bus blast

Seven people, including two children, were killed when a state-run passenger bus was hit by a powerful claymore mine explosion at Pirimanalankulam in Vavuniya yesterday morning, a military spokesman said.

Nineteen civilians and six soldiers were injured in the blast which took place around 7.40 a.m. as the bus was heading from Mannar to Vavuniya, the spokesman said. Tiger guerrillas appeared to have misidentified the bus as a bus carrying soldiers as two soldiers on leave were on the foot-board, the spokesman said.

The claymore mine had been set on the road in a lonely area. Soon after the bus was caught in the blast the driver lost control and the bus crashed into a large tree, causing further casualties.

One of the persons killed was a soldier while the others were identified as civilians. The injured civilians were rushed to the Vavuniya hospital and four of them were in a critical condition. The soldiers injured were removed to the Anuradhapura hospital. Vavuniya District judge V. Illancheliyan visited the scene of the blast.

All vehicular traffic along the Mannar-Vavuniya road was suspended until last evening. On Sunday night, six labourers were killed in Mailambavani, Batticaloa and hours later a bus bomb went off in Kondawattuwan, Ampara killing 16 civilians and a soldier. Four more farmers were shot and hacked to death in Polonnaruwa on Thursday.