TERROR ATTACK: Bomb blast at Shah Rukh concert, 2 killed

dark_knite · December 12, 2004, 6:32am

Bomb blast at Shah Rukh concert, 2 killed

ShahRukh is safe

COLOMBO: At least two persons were killed and 15 injured when a bomb exploded at the fag end of a concert by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. But the actor was, however, safe.

The two dead in the blast were Sri Lankan fans - a 30-year old woman and a 22-year old man.

A number of children were among the wounded in the explosion which ripped through Shahrukh Khan’s mega concert at Colombo’s former Race Course open air stadium.

The show, titled “Temptation 2004,” featured leading Indian stars Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Javed Khan and Celina Jaitly.

Shahrukh Khan began his concert by observing a minute’s silence in memory of monk Gangodawila Soma who died a year ago.

Police clashed with protestors earlier in the evening and arrested over a dozen men who attacked cars and fans who were walking to the venue of the concert held amid tight security.

Fans were searched at four points before being allowed into the venue which had earlier been searched by anti-terrorism agents as well as police sniffer dogs.

The bomb ripped through the 10,000-rupee stands just as the Bollywood superstar ended his three-hour concert, police said, adding the Indian star and his troupe were unharmed.

The concert was held despite protests by Buddhist monks who said the musical show coincided with the first death anniversary of a popular monk.

“There were a lot of fireworks and everyone thought this was also part of that,” a doctor at the hospital quoted one of the injured as saying. “Then we realised that we were bleeding.”

Monks had later called off their protest following a written apology from Khan over the bad timing of what was billed as Sri Lanka’s biggest musical event of the year.

pOOnjabii_munda · December 14, 2004, 4:08am

hm......