SLAF fighter jets bomb preschool in Kumarapuram

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 June 2008, 05:48 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir fighter jets, in four sorties, bombed the Kaaththaan preschool area in Kumarapuram, Paranthan in Ki’linochchi Saturday around 1:10 p.m when the school children, teachers and parents were gathered for the school’s sports meet to begin, sources in Ki’linochchi said. 35 children, 2 teachers and the parents narrowly escaped death in the bombing which caused damage to the school building and ten houses, the sources added.

The children, teachers and parents who were all gathered on the playground fled in panic as the fighter jets dived and bombed.

Some of the children fell on the ground and were injured while running away from the playground in fright while the prizes to be awarded for the winners lay scattered in the scramble.

The preschool children were in a state of shock and mentally affected.

Most of the bombs, falling and exploding in the paddy fields in front of the preschool, damaged more than ten houses in the vicinity besides injuring a woman inside one of the houses.

The Mother Child Clinic, Women Workers’ Development Centre, Teachers’ Resource Centre of the Ki’inochchi Edcation Zone are all located just 300 meters from the place where the bombs hit.

An educational training workshop for female teachers and courses for teachers were in progress at the Teachers’ Resource Centre at the time of the bombing.

Meanwhile, a bull terrorized by the roar of the bombers attacked a woman causing minor injuries to her.

The Kaaththaan preschool was built under the North East Coastal Development Scheme with funds donated by the Asian Development Bank.