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| Eight killed in Sri Lanka blast | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| At least eight policemen have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, the army says. | |
| More than 70 people were hurt when a man on a motorcycle rammed into a bus carrying policemen near a five-star hotel in the central business district. | |
| The army has blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the attack. | |
| Fighting between the Tamil Tigers, who are seeking an independent state, and the army has worsened this year after the government pulled out of a truce. | |
| 'Like an earthquake' | |
| The blast happened near the Hilton Hotel and a twin-tower commercial building. | |
| Ekanjith Rawwalage, head of customer services at the hotel, told BBC News that the blast happened around 1230 local time (0700 GMT) near a police checkpoint outside the hotel. | |
| "It was a loud explosion. It felt like an earthquake," said Mr Rawwalage. | |
| He said some window panes of the hotel had been damaged by the explosion. He said all the guests were safe and the hotel gates had been shut. | |
| Mr Rawwalage said he had seen ambulances rushing the injured to the hospital. | |
| The area is also the site of the official residence of Sri Lanka's president and has been targeted in the past by Tamil Tiger rebels. | |
| The Tigers have fought for a generation for an independent state for the Tamil minority. | |
| About 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began in 1983. |