Five passengers killed, over 30 injured in Lanka bus bomb blast

Colombo, Jan 5 (UNI) At least five passengers were killed while 30 more wounded when a bomb exploded inside the passenger bus they were travelling at Nittambuwa in the Gampaha district in Sri Lanka this evening.

According to the police and military sources, the explosion has occurred around 6.10 pm in a passenger bus travelling from Nittambuwa to Kiriulla on the Colombo-Kandy highway in the Gampaha district.

''At least five passengers have been killed and 30 more wounded.

Of the wounded 10 passengers were seriously wounded,'' a defence official attached to the Media Centre for National Security told UNI over the phone.

Unofficial reports said nearly 50 passengers were wounded in the blast.

He said that the wounded passengers had been rushed to the nearby Wathupitiwala government hospital.

It is not immediately clear as to who is responsible for the bus blast and the Nittambuwa Police is conducting further investigation.

UNI