Sri Lanka rail blast death toll rises to 14: hospital

Feb 4, 2008 (AFP) - The number of people killed in a suicide bombing at Sri Lanka's main railway station rose to 14 on Monday after two of the wounded died of their injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.



The twin blasts came despite heightened security across the island on Monday as Sri Lanka prepared to mark 60 years of independence from Britain.

A suspected woman suicide bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set off explosives strapped to her body as a train pulled up at the Fort terminal on Sunday afternoon, police said.

Doctors at Colombo National Hospital said seven people were dead on arrival, while seven others died later.

More than 100 people were rushed to the hospital and 97 were still receiving treatment on Monday.

Among the dead were five students from a school baseball team and their coach.

Two girls aged 12 and 13 also died, hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said.

"The bombing has all the hallmarks of the Tigers," a police officer at the scene said. "The head of the woman suicide bomber was found on a platform.

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There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Earlier Sunday, at least six visitors to a zoo on the outskirts of Colombo w