Sri Lanka suicide blast kills official, 13 others

A suicide bomber killed 14 people at an opening ceremony for a marathon Sunday, including a government minister and a former Olympian. More than 90 others were wounded.

Sri Lankan officials blamed the bombing on the Tamil Tigers, rebels who have fought since 1983 for an independent homeland for the ethnic minority Tamils, who believe they have been marginalized for decades by successive governments run by ethnic majority Sinhalese.

The rebel group routinely denies that it attacks civilians, and their spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Scores of runners and onlookers had gathered at the starting line in Weliweriya, about 12 miles from the capital, Colombo, as part of the national celebration of the upcoming Sinhalese New Year.

Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, the minister of highways and the ruling party’s chief whip, approached the starting line with a flag he planned to wave to start the race when the bomb exploded, witnesses said.

Television footage showed chaotic images of screaming people running through the bloodied streets.

“I saw severed heads, hands and legs. . . . It was a horrible scene,” Nalin Warnasooriya said.

Fernandopulle, an acid-tongued politician who acted as the government’s chief political enforcer and was considered a top rebel target, died on the spot, said government spokesman Lakshman Hulugalle.

Former Olympic marathoner K.A. Karunaratne and national athletics coach Lakshman de Alwis also were among the dead, Hulugalle said.

The violence comes amid a heavy increase in fighting since the government officially ended a six-year cease-fire in January. The truce had been faltering for more than two years as escalating bloodshed claimed about 5,000 lives.