Sri Lankan PM, Chinese ambassador visit blast site
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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dissanayake Jayaratne visited the explosion site of the eastern police station Friday in the company of the Chinese Ambassador Yang Xiuping, an embassy official said.
Jayaratne, who is also the acting defense minister in the absence of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa from the island, and Ambassador Yang traveled in the same helicopter heading for the eastern district of Batticaloa, about 300 km east of the capital Colombo, to carry out on site inspection of the blast at the Karadiyanaru police station.
The lady Ambassador Yang had earlier expressed her shock and concern over the blast in the Karadiyanaru police station which killed at least two Chinese nationals.
The Defense Ministry of Sri Lanka stated that 19 people including 10 policemen, two Chinese nationals and seven civilians have been confirmed dead in the incident.
Another 52 personnel were also injured in the blast.
Earlier, the Chinese embassy dispatched officials to investigate the blast in the eastern police station of Karadiyanaru, the embassy official said.
The military said the explosion occurred when two Chinese nationals had arrived to take some explosives from one of the three explosives laden containers which were kept at the Karadiyanaru Police Station for safety.
One container carrying the explosives exploded and triggered the explosion of the next two containers, the military said.
The explosion took place at around 11:45 a.m local time (0615 GMT).
The Ministry officials confirmed that the blast to be an industrial accident that has no relation to any criminal activity.
