COLOMBO, Feb. 1 -- Rescue workers in the Sri Lankan capital Thursday tried to locate possible survivors of a devastating bomb blast that killed at least 91 people and wounded more than 1,200 others. A massive truck bomb set off by suspected Tamil rebels ripped through Sri Lanka's Central Bank in the heart of Colombo's main business district late Wednesday morning. Police in Colombo earlier said at least 1,400 people were wounded in the attack, but later lowered the figure. Sri Lankan police said Thursday they identified the attackers as members of a suicide squad of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE. The force of the blast rocked an entire city block, and caused one side of the Central Bank building to collapse. Smoke pouring from the bank and adjacent buildings, including two luxury hotels, could be seen for miles. Firefighters and rescue teams searched through the remains of the Central Bank building Thursday morning, looking for employees believed still trapped in the bank's underground vault. 'The bank's vault cannot be opened because concrete slabs and other debris have fallen on it,' a senior police official said. 'The whole area is also flooded by damaged underground pipes.' At least 3,000 people were believed inside the Central Bank building at the time of the explosion, police said. Authorities said the death toll was likely to rise as rescue efforts continued. A police official said only 350 of the people wounded in the blast had left hospitals, with more than 900 people still receiving treatment.
A senior police official said the explosion was the most devastating attack in Colombo in the 13 years of Sri Lanka's ethnic civil war with the Tamil rebels. The attack occurred around 11 a.m. local time when a truck packed with 440 pounds (200 kgs) of explosives approached the Central Bank building, authorities said. Several armed men got out of the vehicle and fired a light anti-tank weapon into the sixth floor of the bank building and the nearby Ceylinco Insurance building. The truck's driver made at least three unsuccessful attempts to ram through the bank's main gate before setting off the vehicle's explosive charge, authorities said. Bank security officers said they watched helplessly on their closed circuit monitors as the drama unfolded. Mithra Ariyasinghe, acting inspector general of police, said the truck that carried the deadly load of explosives left the northern town of Vavuniya on Monday and reached Colombo Tuesday evening. 'We have details of the route that they took,' Ariyasinghe said, declining to elaborate. Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe suggested that government forces' failure to detect the truck either en route or once it arrived in the capital indicated inadequate security in the nation. Ariyasinghe denied a security problem. 'There is security,' he said. 'All (of it) is done by human beings. They can always make a mistake.' Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga blasted the Tamil rebels in a speech to the nation Thursday. 'At this moment when the government is working with a firm determination to restore peace in the country through providing a lasting settlement to the ethnic problem, LTTE terrorists have once again resorted to mass destruction of life and property within the city of Colombo,' she said. 'We must not forget that this is not the first time the LTTE have engaged in such dastardly acts of terror in and around the city of Colombo,' she said, noting that 12 blasts were credited to the Tigers in 1986 alone. 'The LTTE have resorted to this act of desperation at a time when the group has suffered major military set backs at the hands of the Sri Lankan security forces, and the government's political proposals to resolve the ethnic problem has received the acceptance of the majority' of people in the region, she said. 'Their action is clearly intended to derail the process by provoking our people to (harass) innocent Tamil citizens and cause damage to the country's economic areas. Kumaratunga also said the central bank had resumed operations. Sri Lankan Justice Minister G.L. Peiris predicted Thursday that the blast would turn the nation's populace against the Tamil Tigers. 'This will defeat the LTTE more than the fall of Jaffna,' he said, referring to the government's capture of the rebel stronghold on the northern Jaffna Peninsula. 'The Tamil people should be given the opportunity to defeat the LTTE,' he said, adding that Colombo is committed to a military and political strategy aimed at bringing peace to the nation. Suicide bombings have been a hallmark of the Tamil Tigers since they began waging a guerrilla campaign against the government in an effort to establish a separate homeland in the island's north and east. The Tamil Tigers -- one of the best armed and trained guerrilla movements in the world -- suffered a significant defeat late last year when government troops captured their main headquarters at Jaffna city. At the time, many analysts predicted an upsurge in rebel terrorist attacks against military and civilian targets. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the fighting since the insurrection began in 1983.
colombbo X X X drama unfolded. Mithra Ariyasinghe, acting inspector general of police, said the truck that carried the deadly load of explosives left the northern town of Vavuniya on Monday and reached Colombo Tuesday evening. 'We have details of the route that they took,' Ariyasinghe said, declining to elaborate. Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe suggested that government forces' failure to detect the truck either en route or once it arrived in the capital indicated inadequate security in the nation. Ariyasinghe denied a security problem. 'There is security,' he said. 'All (of it) is done by human beings. They can always make a mistake.' Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga blasted the Tamil rebels in a speech to the nation Thursday. 'At this moment when the government is working with a firm determination to restore peace in the country through providing a lasting settlement to the ethnic problem, LTTE terrorists have once again resorted to mass destruction of life and property within the city of Colombo,' she said. 'We must not forget that this is not the first time the LTTE have engaged in such dastardly acts of terror in and around the city of Colombo,' she said, noting that 12 blasts were credited to the Tigers in 1986 alone. 'The LTTE have resorted to this act of desperation at a time when the group has suffered major military set backs at the hands of the Sri Lankan security forces, and the government's political proposals to resolve the ethnic problem has received the acceptance of the majority' of people in the region, she said. 'Their action is clearly intended to derail the process by provoking our people to (harass) innocent Tamil citizens and cause damage to the country's economic areas. Kumaratunga also said the central bank had resumed operations. Sri Lankan Justice Minister G.L. Peiris predicted Thursday that the blast would turn the nation's populace against the Tamil Tigers. 'This will defeat the LTTE more than the fall of Jaffna,' he said, referring to the government's capture of the rebel stronghold on the northern Jaffna Peninsula. 'The Tamil people should be given the opportunity to defeat the LTTE,' he said, adding that Colombo is committed to a military and political strategy aimed at bringing peace to the nation. Suicide bombings have been a hallmark of the Tamil Tigers since they began waging a guerrilla campaign against the government in an effort to establish a separate homeland in the island's north and east. The Tamil Tigers -- one of the best armed and trained guerrilla movements in the world -- suffered a significant defeat late last year when government troops captured their main headquarters at Jaffna city. At the time, many analysts predicted an upsurge in rebel terrorist attacks against military and civilian targets. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the fighting since the insurrection began in 1983.
