Piliyandala bomb: Deadly details discovered

The bomb which exploded inside a crowded CTB bus at Piliyandala on Friday was packed with steel balls and designed to cause maximum damage, an official of the Government Analyst’s Department said yesterday. His comments came as the death toll rose to 26 while 62 more injured passengers were being treated at the Kalubowila, Piliyandala and National hospitals.

The official who went to the scene of the blast to inspect the ill-fated bus told The Sunday Times that steel balls had been packed into the bomb estimated to be weighing two kilograms and projected downwards to cause the maximum damage.

This was in contrast to the February 2 Dambulla bus blast, where no steel balls had been used and 13 passengers were killed. The officials said the Piliyandala bomb had been placed on a hood rack above the third seat behind the driver but they were not yet certain whether there was a timing device.

One of the police detectives at the scene said the bomb was so powerful and set in a manner to damage the whole bus and cause maximum carnage.

Investigators said nine persons had been taken in for questioning but they had not yet found any direct links between them and the blast. Senior Superintendent Hemantha Adhikari said statements of about some 40 people, including eyewitnesses, had been recorded so far.“We believe that the suspect would have got into the crowded bus minutes before it started its journey. We also believe that the suspect would have left the scene unnoticed after placing the bomb on the rack,” SSP Adhikari said.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Victor Perera yesterday summoned a conference of top officers to discuss further measures to prevent bus bombing.

A few hours before the blast in Piliyandala, a suspected LTTE cadre placed a claymore mine weighing 10 kg close to a checkpoint in Wolfhendhal Street in Colombo. The bomb was later defused by the Special Task Force bomb disposal unit.

Meanwhile the bodies of all 26 persons were identified and released to the families. Fourteen of the bodies were at Kalubowila, 11 at Piliyandala, and one at National Hospital. Eleven of those killed were females.