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January 31
Around 1,400 people were injured in the suicide bomb blast
1996: Fifty dead in Sri Lanka suicide bombing
England have
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.
Shipman was convicted of killing 15 patients
2000: Life for serial killer Shipman
Artificially 1969:
The Family GP Dr Harold Shipman has been jailed for life for murdering 15
of his patients, making him Britain"s biggest convicted serial killer.
Shipman, from Hyde in Greater Manchester, is also suspected of killing more
than 100 other patients.
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.
Vocabulary:
jurisdiction: to kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the
air(权限)
jubilant: to kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the
air(欢呼的，喜悦的) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:20:16