January 31
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At least 53 people have been killed and another 1,400 injured in a suicide attack in the capital of Sri Lanka. A lorry loaded with explosives crashed into the central bank in the heart of Colombo's financial district. The authorities said the explosion, which ripped through the business district at 1100 local time was the work of the separatist Tamil Tigers. The group's fight for an independent homeland has resulted in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people over the last 12 years. It is believed that the intended target was the neighbouring navy headquarters. Brigadier Sarath Munasinghe, a Sri Lankan military spokesman, said: "It had to be the Tamil Tigers. Who else would have done such a thing like this?" The blast is thought to be in response to the army's claim on the main Tiger guerrilla base at Jaffna, on the north of the island, during a long and bloody campaign that ended last December. Witnesses said a lorry stopped near the bank at about 1045 local time and the driver was confronted by security staff. Three people jumped out of the vehicle with guns blazing and detonated two bombs. Meanwhile, the lorry reversed into the central bank and blew up. The police said the driver of the truck died in the blast. Two youths wearing jackets filled with explosives were later arrested at the Fort railway station nearby. The blast caused the first two floors of the 10-storey central bank to collapse and it shattered the windows of a 39-storey trade centre that was still under construction. Office workers trapped on the upper floors of burning buildings nearby were lifted to safety by helicopters. The Intercontinental Hotel, one of several luxury hotels in the area, was evacuated. Most of the dead and wounded were in the Central Bank building, where Sri Lanka's gold reserves are held and the country's financial policy is made. The director of the National Hospital's trauma unit, Hector Weerasinghe, said 53 people had died so far. Around 1,060 people were admitted to two hospitals nearby while hundreds of others were released after treatment. The blast comes as the government prepares an ambitious political offensive to end more than a decade of fighting. It also follows a major government victory last month, when the Sri Lankan Army seized the city of Jaffna, a former stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels. Anuruddha Ratwatte, the deputy defence minister, said on state television: "If Velupillai Prabhakaran [the Tamil Tiger chief] thinks that by these acts he can stop our military offensive, he is dreaming. "We say quite clearly that these acts will make us even more determined to destroy terrorism.'' The economic consequences of the blast for Sri Lanka will be catastrophic, both through direct losses and because of lost tourism and foreign investment. From the dock at Preston Crown Court, Shipman showed no emotion as the verdict was read out: guilty to 15 murders and forging the will of one of his patients. In sentencing Shipman to life imprisonment the judge, Mr Justice Thayne Forbes, said: "Each victim was your patient. You murdered each and every one by a calculated and cold-blooded perversion of his medical skills. "You brought them death, disguised by the attentiveness of a good doctor." All Shipman's victims were women and none was suffering from a serious illness when she died. Each one died suddenly after a visit from Shipman. The court was told how the doctor would visit the victims in their homes and administer a lethal dose of morphine. The alarm was raised by solicitor Angela Woodruff, the daughter of Kathleen Grundy, Shipman's last victim. Shipman arrived at Mrs Grundy's home on the pretext of giving her a blood test and had, in fact, given her a massive dose of morphine. He then crudely forged her will so he would benefit from her substantial estate. Outside the court, Mrs Woodruff gave her reaction. "Sadly, nothing that has happened here nor can happen in the future can bring back my mum, nor the other victims," she said. "We hope we can now have the space and time to remember my mum as she was - a happy, active, caring, energetic, loving person whom we miss so much." Shipman's family, his wife, Primrose, and sons, Christopher and David were in court for the verdict. The defence said the case against the doctor was based solely on unreliable and unsafe toxicological evidence gathered from the exhumed bodies of nine of his victims. The family solicitor, Ann Ball, said: "Mrs Shipman is devastated by the verdict that has been reached today. The last 18 months have been an ordeal for her and her family." Further murder charges are possible. The court was told the police had investigated the deaths of 136 of Shipman's patients. jubilant: to kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air（欢呼的，喜悦的） |
