JDS

Friday, September 17, 2010

'OVER 60 KILLED IN SRI LANKA EXPLOSIVES DEPOT BLAST'

Posted by JDS

Photo courtesy: Tamil Net

Agence France-Presse
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At least 60 people were killed, including two Chinese contractors, in eastern Sri Lanka on Friday after an accidental blast at an explosives depot at a police station, a military spokesman told AFP.

Spokesman Ubaya Medawala told AFP that most of the victims were policemen, who were issuing explosives to Chinese road builders who needed them to blast rock on a nearby project.

"It's an accidental explosion. The munitions were kept at the police station for safety reasons. It exploded as police were issuing some munitions to the contractors," Medawala said.

The police station in Karadiyanaru, 235 miles (378 kilometres) by road from the capital Colombo, was extensively damaged.

Chinese infrastructure companies are highly active in Sri Lanka, fuelling concerns in neighbouring India about the growing influence of China in South Asia.

State-run firms are building two ports in Sri Lanka, one in the southern town of Hambantota and another in Colombo.

The nearest hospital to the site of the accident, in the town of Batticaloa, said several people injured in the blast had been admitted, but a spokesman was unable to say how many had been hurt in total.

© AFP