Lankan President's brother escapes unhurt: Defence official

Colombo, Dec 1 (UNI) Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, escaped unhurt from a suspected suicide bombing that was targetted towards the trishaw in which he was travelling, this morning.

The explosion that occurred in the heart of the tightly-guarded Colombo city, killed one person and injured 14 others, military officials here said.

A defence official attached to the Media Centre for National Security told UNI that the bomb was targetted towards Mr Rajapaksaa trishaw.

''But the Defence Secretary is safe and (has) escaped unhurt,'' the defence official said, adding that the injured people, mostly security force personnel, had been rushed to a nearby Colombo national hospital.

Few other vehicles were damaged in the explosion which took place at Dharmapala Mawatta junction, Colombo-07.

Further details are not available at the moment.

UNI XC LL DS1255