'Go under the seats'

Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kuruppu on surviving the attack

Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kuruppu on surviving the attack

In April 1987, I was in the Sri Lanka team, when a huge explosion shook usu00a0 after the first Test against New

Horror: Terrorists ambushed the Lanka team bus near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. pic/ap

Zealand at the Colombo Cricket Club ground. I was about six kilometres from where the bomb blast took place.

Yesterday, I was in the middle of it. Then, I did not have anyone pointing a rocket launcher at my bus.

We were on our way to the Gaddafi Stadium in a convoy for the third day's play in the second Test. We had armed vehicles in front and behind our team bus followed by an ambulance. Suddenly, two vehicles intercepted the convoy at the front. It was followed by heavy firing from all sides at the armed pilot vehicles. And then, our bus was under fire too.

The reaction of our team was swift. Everyone started shouting at the same time 'go under the seats'. All the players quickly dived for cover. The bus stopped moving for maybe 30 seconds. I was sitting in the front seat and as fate would have it, almost everyone from the second row on, was injured.

We were very lucky that the driver was not hit. He was in a daze and came out of it when some security person shouted at him to drive on.
The most frightening moment was when they fired a rocket launcher at us. Luckily, it missed the bus and hit a building. We count ourselves extremely lucky to have survived.

- As told to Sanjjeev K Samyal