The  D.S. Senanayake Vidyalaya base ball team had just  alighted   from one of the  new Chinese built carriages of the  packed Kandy - Colombo Fort bound train No 158 when a female suicide bomber around 20 - 25 years blew herself up on Platform No 3 . The suicide bombers head which had been severed from her body by the explosion lay on the platform while her body was thrown outside. The LTTE practice of killing innocent civilians was intended to divert the attention of the Security Forces as they were facing certain defeat in the North, in the Wanni and in the Mannar sector. This practice of the LTTE is only too well known. They even use their own civilians as "human shields" to prevent the Army from attacking them according to reports from  their own community.  

It was a Sunday afternoon and the train was   packed with commuters, most of whom who had  gone home for the weekend . But this Sunday was special as the next day   was the  60th Independence Day and the Armed Services Parade was scheduled for Monday (04)  morning and more people had traveled on this train to see it . There was also anther train bound for Ambepussa which added to the already crowed platform. The suicide bomber had chosen to blow herself opposite the station "Cafeteria" which made maters still worse. The Fort railway stations is one of the largest railway and often the most crowded railway stations in Sri Lanka situated in the heart of Colombo.

The clock in the station had stopped at 2.10 in the afternoon - the time of the explosion - which   killed 12 instantaneously and injured around 97 who were mostly on the platform at the time at the time of the explosion.

D.S Senanayake Vidyalaya situated in a well known area Colombo 7 was established more recently than many other popular schools in Colombo.  The school in this short span of time has made a name not only in academic studies but also in extracurricular activities  producing   sportsmen  of international standards especially in cricket. However,  Baseball  is a sport that has caught on  encouraged  by enthusiasts from countries where the game has a large following.

However, the terrorists have no need for sport or to recognize children.  For a ruthless organization as the LTTE which forcibly takes children from parents and recruits child soldiers, killing children is only fair game. Worse still is their practice of forcibly recruiting children but at the same time  giving  guarantees to International Organizations as the UN, UNESCO, UNICEF etc that they will not recruit children. In this instance they have used a female suicide bomber to do the killing .

The 12 killed included  the coach  Malinda Arumadura(25) of Matara,  and seven   students of the D.S.Senanayake Vidyalaya . They were  Kolitha Kumara Mahamudalaige (19) of Malabe, Sapun Hallala(18) of Aggona,  Ragesh  Ratheswaran (17) of Dematagoda,  Prasanna (17)   of Agalawatte, Thivanka Tissera (18), of Dehiwela, Vimukthi Therappermua (18) of Kalutara North and  Erandha Chaturanga, Colombo 7. They were returning to Colombo after participating in a baseball competition in Kandy.

Two girls aged 13 and 12 were also killed in the explosion . The parents of one girl are reported to be visually handicapped.

Hospital authorities stated that six were dead when admitted to the National Hospital, Colombo, while three  succumbed to their injuries after admission.  Ten who were killed were males.

The injured were rushed to the Colombo National Hospital and 15 who were in a critical condition    were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.   

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