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Explosion rocks Sri Lanka capital

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- In one of the worst attacks in Sri Lanka's 12-year civil war, a truck packed with explosives rammed into the central bank yesterday, igniting towering fires in the business and tourist district. At least 53 people died, including the driver, and 1,400 were wounded.

Authorities blamed the attack and a fireball caused by a rocket-propelled grenade moments earlier on the Tamil Tiger rebels, whose 12-year armed campaign for an independent homeland has killed nearly 40,000 people. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.

In the chaos after the midday attack, dozens of people were trapped atop burning buildings waving for help. Helicopter gunships bristling with machine guns tried to pluck survivors from rooftops but were repelled by the heat. Many were rescued by ladders; those on the streets were taken away in public buses and private cars.

As darkness fell, soldiers armed with assault rifles patrolled the center of Colombo, and drizzling rain forced rescuers to scale back their hunt through unsteady buildings for bodies and survivors.

The director of the National Hospital's trauma unit, Hector Weerasinghe, told The Associated Press that 53 people died. An additional 1,060 injured people were admitted to two hospitals, 100 in critical condition. Scores of people released after treatment raised the estimated number of injured to 1,400.

Most of the dead and wounded were in the Central Bank building, where Sri Lanka's gold reserves are held and the country's financial policy is made.

Bank guard Prasanna Wijewardhana said a blue truck with three men drove into the security barricade outside the bank. Two men leaped out and started firing automatic weapons.

Some guards returned fire, but many of them fled, Wijewardhana said. The attackers "had the advantage of surprise," he said.

During the gunfire, a rocket-propelled grenade landed in front of a nearby office building, gouging a crater and shattering windows at The Associated Press office 100 yards away.

Police said the driver of the truck died in the explosion. Hours later, they arrested two others seen fleeing with automatic rifles about a mile from the blast.

The bank building burst into flames, which spread to a half-dozen other buildings. The fires raged for much of the day and thick black smoke blanketed the city, hampering rescue efforts.

The explosion caused the first two floors of the 10-story Central Bank to collapse. The building is a few hundred yards from President Chandrika Kumaratunga's office, the naval headquarters and other government buildings.

The blasts shattered the windows of the 39-story twin-tower World Trade Center, which was still under construction and only partially occupied. The Intercontinental Hotel, one of several luxury hotels in the area, was evacuated. City streets were an impenetrable mass of twisted metal, fallen bricks and wrecked office furniture.

Business executive H.D. Peiris was on the street when the blast occurred. "We saw cars burning. I ran as far as possible from the area. As I was running, there was an old woman whose blouse was stained with blood," he said. "There were at least 12 or 13 people lying dead on the street."

Amid the debris outside the bank, police found a small card printed with the message: "This vehicle is carrying 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds) of explosives. If you try to stop us, we will blow it up."

Police believe the attackers carried the card, printed in English and Sri Lanka's majority and minority languages, Sinhalese and Tamil. They maintained the bomb weighed only 110 to 220 pounds.

Officials blamed Tamil Tiger rebels, and claimed they were trying to unhinge a government plan to give the Tamil minority greater regional autonomy and end the war. There was no immediate statement from the Tigers, who rarely claim responsibility for their attacks.

The Tigers have rejected the government's plan to decentralize power to the country's provinces, including those dominated by Tamils.