Eight tourists feared dead in Lanka park blast

Colombo, May 28: Eight Sri Lankan tourists were feared killed after a suspected landmine exploded as they were tracking wild elephants in a national park near Tamil Tiger rebel territory, an official said today.

Another group of Sri Lankan tourists in the park heard a large blast deep inside the park on Saturday, and went to the site to find a jeep in a ditch and body parts on the road, but police, military and wildlife officials were still on the way to the site.

''We believe that including our interpreter, eight people have been killed, all locals,'' Dayananda Kariyawasam, director general of the Wildlife Department, told Reuters from the fringes of the Wilpattu National Park wildlife sanctuary in the northwest of the country.

''Another group of tourists heard the blast and went to see, and informed that they have seen parts of the bodies and vehicle parts,'' he added.

The blast occurred around 50 km (30 miles) from the park entrance, and search teams waited until daybreak on Sunday to head to the site to avoid encountering wild animals in the dark.

It was unclear whether the suspected landmine dated from before a 2002 ceasefire that halted a two-decade civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or whether it was newly planted.

The northern border of the park is around 15-20 miles from the southern border of the rebels' de facto state in the north and east of the island.

''It could be an old landmine, but I seriously doubt that since there was a tracker (checking the route),'' said Kariyawasam.

The incident, which Kariyawasam said would be the first mine blast to hurt tourists inside a Sri Lankan national park, comes amid a surge in attacks and clashes between the military and the rebels that some fear could spiral into all-out war.

The Tigers, who analysts say have focused recent attacks on the military and government officials, were not immediately available for comment on the incident.

REUTERS

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