WORLD : 47 Slain as Sri Lankans Go to Polls

Sinhalese gunmen killed the son of a Cabinet minister and at least 46 other people today, but millions of people voted for a new Parliament despite the violence, officials said.

Police shot and killed at least seven Sinhalese extremists who tried to disrupt voting at various places across the country, police reported. Tamil militants killed two other people, the police said. An estimated 65% of 9.3 million eligible voters cast ballots by the time the polls closed, according to Deputy Election Commissioner Lakshman Perera. No results are expected until Thursday. More than 1,000 people, including 14 candidates, have been slain since campaigning started Jan. 6. Sinhalese and Tamil militants vowed to disrupt the election and threatened to kill voters.