Gunmen kill 1, wound 13 campaigning for Sri Lankan candidate

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at campaign workers in Sri Lanka’s capital on Friday, killing one and wounding 13, police and hospital officials said, in the first major political violence before the parliamentary election.

He said that the shooting incident took place near the St. Benedict grounds at Bloemendhal Road in Kotahena.

According to police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera, the victim was a female.

Meanwhile the CMEV election monitoring group said that at 11.30 am today, a shooting incident was reported at Bloemendal Road in front of the St. Benedict College grounds in Kotahena.

Twelve other people have been injured in the attack.

The victims are supporters of Minister Ravi Karunanayake.

Some of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

Police reported that this was the most serious incident in the run-up to the election.

The gunmen reportedly come in two vehicles and sprayed bullets into the crowd.