Pilgrims’ peace shattered

Reports from Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa and Shane Seneviratne, Pix by J. Weerasekera and Kanchana Kumara

What started out for many as a pilgrimage to Ruvanweliseya in the sacred city of Anuradhapura in the early hours of last morning, turned out to be the final journey for 18 of the devotees and a nightmare for those who survived the carnage caused by a bomb explosion on board the bus they were travelling in.

The journey had been uneventful till then with many of the pilgrims being elderly ladies, dozing off as the bus made its way towards Dambulla. The bus had left Kandy around 5.15 a.m. and was nearing the Dambulla bus stand when around 6.57 a.m. a massive explosion ripped through it.

Dambulla town was still waking up with many shops yet to open for the day and a few early travellers sipping tea at a boutique close by. As the buildings in the surrounding area vibrated with the impact of the explosion, residents had rushed towards the scene. What greeted their eyes was a sight of utter destruction with the roof of the 70 seater-bus ripped open in the middle , its windows shattered and the metal sheeting twisted.

A freelance photographer in the area who resides about 900 metres from where the explosion occurred said he had rushed in the direction of the sound . “ Many of the people were trapped in the bus. Some were dead and others injured. People began rushing towards the bus to help them out,” he said.

Thirteen were killed instantaneously, two on the way to hospital and three after admission while 70 others including bystanders were injured, some of them critically. Ajith Rathnayake (33), a nurse attached to the Dambulla hospital had boarded the bus from Nalanda as he does each morning. He had taken a seat in the last row of the bus. “ The bus was slowing down near the Dambulla bus stand when there was a huge fire from the middle of the bus. I fell from my seat and when I woke up I was in the hospital,” Ajith who is receiving treatment at the Kandy hospital said.

He like many others are still in shock and cannot recollect the immediate aftermath of the blast. Many of the dead are from Kandy, some of them over 70 years of age.

Following the incident, the majority of the casualties were rushed to the Dambulla base hospital about 50 metres away. Subsequently, the seriously injured were taken to the Kandy General hospital and the National Hospital, Colombo. Dambulla Hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Dr. Sudharsha Arambegedara said 82 people were admitted soon after the blast and of them 25 have been transferred.

“Six surgeries took place at the hospital premises. We are hoping to get a consultant ENT surgeon from Matale Base hospital as there were many head injuries,” he said. Dr. Arambegedara said of the 18 bodies 16 had been identified and post-mortems conducted.

National Hospital Director Dr. Hector Weerasinghe said by yesterday afternoon three patients had been admitted and two of them with serious head injuries.“ We are fully equipped and ready to provide immediate treatment for the injured brought to the National Hospital from Dambulla,” he said.

He said there were no requests to send a medical team from Colombo as a medical team from Kandy has been sent to the Dambulla Base Hospital. The Blood bank branch of Kandy sent 75 pints of blood to Dambulla hospital soon after the incident.

More than ten were admitted to the Kandy General Hospital, most of them with head injuries. A medical team of the Kandy General Hospital was also rushed to the Dambulla hospital.“There were two seriously injured who are being treated. We are in the process of admitting the injured coming from the Dambulla Base Hospital,” Deputy Director Dr. W.G.A. Dissanayake said.

Fifteen were admitted to the Kurunegala Teaching hospital. Two children and six women were among the injured while Matale Base Hospital Director, Dr. U. G. Kumarawansa said five women and one male were admitted to the hospital.“These patients are suffering from minor injuries. One patient who had head injuries was sent to the Kandy hospital,” he said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa condemning yesterday’s bomb blast in Dambulla called on the people to remain calm. The text of the President’s statement:

I vehemently and unequivocally condemn the latest act of savagery by the LTTE in carrying out the blast in a civilian bus at Dambulla. Among those killed and injured were many women pilgrims on their way to Anuradhapura to participate in a Buddhist ceremony. This shows the reality of the struggle we have to face to eliminate terrorism from our country.

I send my sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and my prayers and good wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured. I call upon the people to remain calm and not be provoked by this repeated brutality by the LTTE, which in its desperation in the face of defeats inflicted on them by the Security Forces, is eager to create a backlash to their terror, to obtain the sympathy of the international community.

This act of terror, similar to many other acts of savagery directed at innocent civilians before, underscores the continued commitment of the LTTE to violence to achieve their goal of separatism.

In the face of such grave provocation, the people of Sri Lanka must be aware of the many forces that are attempting to obstruct the efforts of the government to eradicate terrorism from our country, and halt the success of the Security Forces in this task today.

These repeated acts of unmitigated brutality must bring to the attention of the entire civilized world the nature of the terrorist threat that is faced by Sri Lanka, and that it is only the most brutal and politically bankrupt movements that are capable of continuing with such acts.