LTTE suicide cadre has blown himself killing 14 civilians including the minister of highway and road development, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, in Weliweriaya, 19 Km northeast of Colombo around 7.30 this morning, April 6.

LTTE suicide cadre has blown himself when the Minister who was the chief guest of the opening ceremony of the road marathon reached to the runners for flagging off the race.

K.A. Karunarathna, the former national marathon champion and South Asian marathon gold medalist, Luxman Alwis, the national athletic coach and Chief Inspector K.D.R Kannangara, personnel security officer to the minister were also among the dead, hospital sources said.

According to the latest information, 12 bodies have already been identified while two others are yet to be identified, hospital sources said.

Further, 83 people have already been admitted to the Gampaha hospital following the suicide attack and 15 among them are in critical condition. Gampaha Division SSP Hector Dharmasiri who received critical injuries has been admitted to the General Hospital in Gampaha.

Minister Jeyaraj was a politician who represented the parliament from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party since 1983. A lawyer by profession, Minister Jeyaraj was a fluent speaker in Sinhalese, Tamil and English languages. Being a faithful catholic the Minister expressed his concerns over LTTE's occupation of scared Madhu church and the removal of the Madhu statue.

During his career, Minister Jeyaraj has held the many ministerial portfolios including, the Minster of Catholic Affairs, Minister of Ethnic Concession and National Unity, Minister of Port and Aviation, and Minister of Road Development. He was 55 years old and a father of two children. He had also been appointed the UPFA organizer for the Trincomalee District for the forthcoming provincial council elections in the East.

LTTE is a ruthless terrorist outfit notorious for crimes against innocent civilians. In its pursuit for a mono ethnic separate homeland for Tamils, the outfit has killed and maimed over tens and innocent children, Tamil and Sinhalese political leaders in indiscriminate bomb attacks. FBI in a recent report called LTTE the most dangerous terrorist outfit in the world.