Tamil tigers attack train

COLOMBO (AFP) - Suspected Tamil Tiger guerrillas lobbed grenades and opened fire on a crowded train in eastern Sri Lanka yesterday, killing more than 40 passengers, a political party said. Gunmen ambushed the Colombo-bound passenger train in Batticaloa district and ordered Muslim civilians out of the train, but when no one responded they lobbed grenades in and opened fire with automatic rifles.

'The information we have is that over 40 people were killed when they tried to escape. Victims include people from both Tamil and Muslim communities,' a spokesman for the People's Liberation Organistion of Tamil Eelam said.