Powerful bomb explosion in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A very powerful bomb went off near downtown Colombo this noon around 12.40 p.m. (6.40 GMT) killing more than thirty people and wounding more than 220 in the busy junction of Maradana.

The bomb, according to initial reports, was hidden in a large passenger van.

The van had met with the an accident and was being escorted by a traffic policeman when the driver exploded the vehicle and himself near a checkpoint in the area, said some Police sources on the spot.

About six vehicles which had been on the road at the time were destroyed in the blast.