The World - News from Feb. 17, 1988

At least seven people were killed and 13 injured when two bombs exploded in a crowded Hindu temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka, police and witnesses said. The bombs exploded under brass oil lamps as hundreds of worshipers celebrated a religious festival at the temple at Bambalapitiya, 2 miles from the city center. In another incident in the war-torn nation, movie star-politician Vijaya Kumaranatunga was shot to death by two gunmen in Colombo. Two days earlier, Kumaranatunga, leader of the leftist Mahajana (People’s) party, said he would “sacrifice” his life to reconcile the island’s feuding Sinhalese and Tamil communities.