26th anniversary of Central Bus Stand bomb blast :

A nightmare in Pettah

By K.K. Kariyakarawana

Crater created due to the blast

The new market built by the Federation of Self-Employees at the scene of the blast

It was around 5.00 p.m. on April 21, 1987: A busy Tuesday evening after the long holiday of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. Flocks of office workers were rushing towards the Central Bus Stand, Pettah to catch a bus home. Both CTB and private outbound buses were parked along Bodhiraja Mawatha, loading commuters.

Some people were quenching their thirst with fresh fruit juice while some were revitalising their energy with a cup of warm tea before the long journey. Some were bargaining for a basket of apples or grapes to be bought for their little ones at home. Numerous vendors were crying out loud to sell their remaining products.

The next second, an explosion happened, devastating the entire vicinity, setting buses and boutiques ablaze. Killing over a hundred and injuring almost three hundred people, the Central Bus Stand (CBS) bomb in Pettah entered the country’s gruesome history of terrorist atrocities over a three-decade period.

Looking back after 26 years, the CBS bomb incident holds an infamous position among a number of other grisly and large-scale terrorist attacks as one of the first such serious attacks resulting in a high number of casualties.

The explosion followed a chain of explosions in 1986, including the Air Lanka Tristar aircraft bomb on May 3, Central Telegraph Office bomb in the Fort on May 16, Ceylon Cold Stores warehouse bomb on May 30 and a bomb planted on the Colombo-bound Batticaloa train in Veyangoda. A total of 174 deaths was reported in all four explosions whereas over 100 deaths were reported in the CBS blast alone.

Unlike the organised rescue operations we have witnessed in the aftermath of major incidents reported within the last stages of the battle against terrorism, there was no proper mechanism to rescue injured civilians 20 years ago. Hundreds of bystanders voluntarily rushed to the explosion site and rescued many injured people who were transferred to accident wards even before the fire engines or ambulances arrived on the scene. The wounded as well as dying victims were transported to the hospital in many private vehicles of those who merely happened to be passing the scene.

The powerful bomb containing 25 kilograms of Gelignite had been planted inside a secret compartment of a red Ford Escort car that was parked in front of one of the eight shops on the ground floor of the Central Bus Stand building.

A six-foot deep crater with a width of eight foot had been created on the spot where the car was parked. The CID that initiated investigations under the orders of the then Inspector General of Police Cyril Herath found that the car had been brought to the scene, pushed by a group of persons. The driver and his accomplice who had staged a fake breakdown had sought public assistance to station it in front of the CBS shops. Soon after, they had disappeared, claiming to search for a mechanic.

The car bomb was found to have been detonated using a remote controlled device. Additional Government Analyst A.R.L. Wijesekara, issuing a report following the investigations, said the pattern of the blast was similar to the four previous explosions in 1986.

The Minister of National Security Lalith Athulathmudali, in an interview with the BBC said, according to the technical evidence and statements recorded from the suspects, the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), under the backing of the LTTE had masterminded the attack in Pettah.

Two hundred individuals were questioned regarding the attack and 24 who were believed to have had direct links with the EROS were arrested by the police. The CID found that the car used in the explosion formerly belonged to a resident of Nallur named Miss Selvanayaki. The car was gifted to her by her brother, a doctor who had returned to the country in 1980 from the UK. The car had been purchased from England. The car was later sold to a Panchacharam in Eravur in 1983, who had sold it to a Meersaibo of Kathankudy in January 1987. Investigations revealed that Meersaibo had purchased the car with the influence of a group of LTTE members in Batticaloa identified as Newton, Siddharthan, Gopi, Kannan and Pottu whose records had not been ascertained to date.

The group had then modified the car in a garage in Kathankudy, with a secret compartment built within the rear seat and the trunk where the explosives were hidden.

Weeks after the blast, the government considered a compensation scheme for the victims. The then Secretary to the Ministry of Rehabilitation Austin Fernando, in a news report, had said that 340 claims for compensation were received.

Clerk at the Central Bus Stand office, Maurine Shiela Peters

A lucky survivor who had a narrow escape from the blast was Maurine Sheila Peters, a clerk attached to the office of the Central Bus Stand in Pettah.

Maurine who climbed down the stairs of the four-storey building after work around 4.30pm decided to buy some fruits from the adjoining line of vendors on Bodhiraja Mawatha then known as Gasworks Street.

She went to her usual fruit seller, two partners known as Karune and Sumane, who insisted she buy some fresh guava. However, she changed her mind and hurried back to Olcott Mawatha to get on a bus to Dematagoda, her home town. Only minutes after she arrived at Olcott Mawatha, an explosion virtually penetrated her eardrums.

Large crowds were seen running hither and thither and it took a while for Maurine to realise that a powerful bomb had exploded on the other side of the Central Bus Stand where she had stood a few minutes ago.

“I rushed to the scene without any idea, to witness buses and other vehicles along with a line of small tea and fruit kiosks set ablaze and clouds of black smoke covering the area. A large number of people had fallen on the road, here and there, and were lying dead or injured, faintly crying for help and covered with blood or burnt injuries.

“I could not help running towards my usual fruit seller. To my utter despair and sorrow, I found Karune and Sumane who offered me fresh guavas a moment ago lying dead in their own kiosk. It was an unforgettable sight in my life.

“The road was scattered with pieces of human flesh and debris. Glasses and burning cars were amidst groups of people rushing to rescue the injured and clear the debris. Police and firefighters

were engaged in extinguishing the burning vehicles and boutiques”.

According to Maurine, the blast had caused extensive damage to one side of the CBS building. The ceilings were ripped off, window panes were shattered and considerable damage caused to the walls.

To their utter horror, they found a half-burnt arm, severed from its elbow, hanging from the roof of the building when they came to work the next day.

Former Director, Colombo National Hospital, Dr. Oliver Fernando

The then Director of the Colombo National Hospital, Dr. Oliver Fernando, recollecting memories from 26 years ago, said it was the worst terrorist incident up to that time, where the accident service was flooded with a large number of casualties and bodies.

“I was in my bungalow when I received the call around 5.00 in the evening. I immediately checked with my assistant officer. I soon made my way to the old accident service building which had already been receiving a chain of casualties in various conditions. It took only moments for the corridors to be piled up with bodies. The air was filled with an unbearable stench of baked flesh and blood.

“Most were injured due to sharpnel and debris of the blast while many had received severe burnt wounds.

“Action was immediately taken to summon a full staff; over 50 to 60 government and non-government doctors voluntarily took part in the operations. There were only 70 beds in the accident service at that time of which 52 were in the male section and 18 in the female section. We faced a great challenge in finding space for the inflow of casualties as the old accident service premises which was located near the Norris Canal had limited space.

“I called the adjoining wards in the National Hospital premises which was then called the Ragama Section and asked for 20 beds from each of the 10 wards where we managed to find space for the growing number of casualties.

“We took measures to remove all the bodies from the accident ward and lay them outside in the open garages of the doctors due to the lack of space and more, due to the stench and disturbance they caused for the urgent operations.

“An initial count gave the figures at over 250 injured and over 100 dead. The triage was conducted and a number of vital surgeries carried out simultaneously in several theatres while all the others with minor injuries were also attended to by doctors, matrons, nurses, hospital attendants and other staff.

“By 3.00 the following morning, we could register and record the names of all the injured and most of the dead.

“Amidst the operations, the hospital faced a severe shortage of blood which was however answered by hundreds of voluntary donors from the public including bhikkhus and Boy Scouts.

“The hospital staff worked continuously for five to six days, day and night to restore normality and control the situation”. Dr. Fernando, who is in his eighties now and is retired from an active service, said that it was one of the most gruesome moments he had experienced in his long-standing career.

Victim of a lifetime ailment, Shanthi Dias

The sudden death of a family member can bring you piercing pain that can last a lifetime, or it might eventually fade away, leaving traces of the memory of that loved one. However, to live with distress and agony for ever because of a lifetime injury to a nearest and dearest takes a lot of courage.

Sixty one-year-old Shanthi Dias is one such unfortunate victim who sustained a lifetime injury following the 1987 blast. A former employee of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, Shanthi recollected the series of events which took place on that ill-fated evening.

“As usual, I left Lake House after work and walked up to the Central Bus Stand to catch my bus to Hanwella. When I was close to the CTB bus which was parked outside the CBS, I heard a thundering blast from behind, that knocked me down on the spot. When I was regaining consciousness, a group of persons was carrying me into the bus that left the scene immediately. The loaded bus was waiting for a few of its regular passengers including myself when the explosion occurred.

“Apart from some blood stains on my sari, I had no external injuries though I felt a pain behind my neck which I believed was caused by the fall. My husband had come to the Hanwella town to receive me as usual and after hearing of the incident, he took me to the police station to lodge an entry. Thereafter, he rushed me to the Jayawardenapura Hospital where I was treated for a couple of days.

“Since there were no visible injuries or ailments, I decided to commence work after a month. I was attached to the Classified Advertising Department where I continued to work for a few more weeks before I started to feel some strange numbness in my arms and fingers. It was gradually turning worse and at times, I could not even pick up a pen.

“After a number of failed attempts to find a cure through Ayurvedic medicine, I was referred to a specialist doctor who diagnosed that I have suffered a neurological disorder following the explosion. He instructed me to take further tests including a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. I had to visit India as there were no facilities to conduct an MRI scan in Sri Lanka at that time. Following the scan, the Indian doctors told me that a surgery has to be done on my spinal cord, which has a 50 percent chance of leading to paralysis. The doctors also asked me to get the approval of my local surgeon Professor Saman Gunathilaka prior to the operation.

“After many consultations and tests, I underwent the crucial surgery in 1995 that cost Rs. 350,000. My colleagues at Lake House collected Rs. 100,000 and Rs. 200,000 was donated by the President’s Fund. I felt normal after the surgery and started working again for another one and a half years before I started feeling the side-effects of the surgery.

“The second time, doctors diagnosed water inside my brain which had to be removed by another serious surgery. This process went on till 2007 when I did my last operation.

“I have undergone 13 MRI scans and was subjected to eight risky operations that cost Rs. 5 million so far, but no significant cure has been found. I take medicine three times a day which costs me Rs. 10,000 per month. Today, I suffer from constant and severe headaches and face the risk of passing out at any moment.

My beloved husband looks after me round-the-clock, giving constant attention in everything I attend to,” said Shanthi, in a desperate manner, wishing to have her normal life back.

Treasurer, Pitakotuwa Eksath Bodhiraja Samithiya, W.A. Dharmasiri

W.A. Dharmasiri is a former shop owner on Bodhiraja Mawatha and the present Treasurer of the Pitakotuwa Eksath Bodhiraja Samithiya. His shop was just three shops away from the spot where the explosives-laden car was parked.

Dharmasiri, who was away from his boutique during the explosion, said that according to eye-witnesses, a group of persons came pushing a car and parked it in front of Sri Durga Cool Spot which is just three boutiques away from his kiosk, Sisikelum Cool Spot.

The driver who had claimed a breakdown had abandoned the vehicle to find a mechanic. It only took a few minutes. The car went up in flames.

“In the blast, the row of boutiques including mine received extensive damage. The engine of the car was found inside Sri Durga Cool Spot. A number of pavement vendors and crowds of people returning home after work were the victims of the blast”, he said.