Jeyaraj Fernandopulle (55), chief whip of the ruling United People’s Freedom Party and considered by many as potential prime minister-in-waiting, was about to wave a flag to start a marathon when the bomb went off at the western district of Grampaha, about 25 km from here.

Fernandopulle, who held the Highways portfolio and was a vocal critic of the LTTE, died of injuries sustained in the blast at a hospital, officials said.

Blood and mangled body parts were strewn around as people ran screaming and running through the bloodied path after the powerful explosion went off near the minister.

Considered as one of the prime targets of the LTTE, Fernandopulle is the second top minister to be killed by the rebels after D M Dassanayake, minister for Nation Building, who died in a bomb blast in the same district on January 8, within days of the government scrapping a tattered ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers.

Olympian among the dead
Colombo, AP: Sri Lanka’s national athletics coach Lakshman de Alwis and former Olympic marathon runner K A Karunaratne were among those killed in a suicide bomb attack on Sunday.

Karunaratne competed in the 1992 Olympic marathon and the 1993 World Championships. He won gold in the marathon and 10,000 meters at the 1991 South Asian Games, defending his marathon title in 1993.

Karunaratne and de Alwis were confirmed dead by Lakshman Hulugalle, a government spokesman.