2ND LEAD

Bomb scare in Katunayake airport, one passenger dies in stampede

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 September 2005, 12:02 GMT]
One Sri Lankan Muslim woman died and 83 others including men, women and children wounded in a stampede when all 452 passengers in a Boeing 747 of the Saudi airlines jumped through emergency door following a tip-off from an anonymous caller to the Katunayake international airport authorities that a bomb has been hidden inside the craft. The incident took place Thursday afternoon at about 1.45 p.m. when the airplane was about to take off to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, airport sources said.

Most of the passengers were Sri Lankans, including the woman died, going abroad to work as maids and in other sectors.

The Muslim woman has not been identified yet.

The Katunayake airport was closed for several hours soon after the incident. The airbus was taken immediately to a safer side in the airport area and being subjected to severe check, sources said.