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For Sri Lanka’s cricketers, a narrow escape, and a day of mourning
On Sunday, at 8:45 in the morning, when a blast ripped through the St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, the sound of the explosion deafened Shanaka, whose home is a few minutes walk from the church.
Sri Lankan cricketer Dasana Shanaka is still in shock.
On Sunday, at 8:45 in the morning, when a blast ripped through the St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, the sound of the explosion deafened Shanaka, whose home is a few minutes walk from the church. His mother and grandmother, he knew, were in the church, which was packed for Easter Sunday service when a suicide bomber detonated himself inside.
“I would have attended Easter service too,” Shanaka says, “but I thought I would go later in the evening because I was tired after a long road trip.”
Moments after the explosion, he ran towards the church, in search of his mother and grandmother.
“I could see bodies all over the Church and I feared for the worst,” Shanaka says.
Shanaka found his mother outside the church—she had been standing near a window, and was protected from the main impact of the blast—and guided her away from the scene. She told Shanaka that his grandmother was inside when the bomb went off, and he ran back in. He did not expect to find her alive.
She had, miraculously, survived. The blast had hit and killed people around her, and she had been protected by the bodies of others.
“I took them both to the nearby hospital,” Shanaka says. “But it was full, and so I went to another hospital.
“Both were discharged today,” Shanaka, who has played three Tests, 19 ODIs and 27 T20Is for Sri Lanka, said. “My grand mother had to undergo surgery as she had shrapnel in her head while my mum is receiving treatment as she has problem with hearing.”
On Tuesday, Shanaka attended the funeral service for those killed at the church—more than a 100 people are believed to have died at St Sebastian, perhaps the highest single casualty among the six churches and hotels that were targeted by suicide bombers. More than 320 people are believed dead overall.
“I am just shocked and at a loss for words as the funerals of so many people known
to me are taking place. Two of my class mates died from the attack,” he said.
Shanaka is Buddhist, but his mother is Catholic. The Sri Lankan all-rounder, like people of many different faiths often do in Sri Lanka, attends Church regularly.
At the capital Colombo, St Anthony’s shrine, in the heart of the city, was also targeted.
Angelo Mathews, who is in Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad, frequently attends service there, as do former teammates Ajantha Mendis and Chaminda Vaas, who say they go there every Tuesday, a day dedicated to Sri Lanka’s favourite Saint. The church is devoted to a Catholic monk who lived in the 12th century in Padua, Italy.
“I am shocked at what has just happened and lost for words,” Mathews says.
Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya, who practices Buddhism, is also a regular.
“I was supposed to go to St. Anthony’s Sunday evening. I usually try to go
at a time when there’s not much crowd.” Jayasuriya says. “When I was playing, I used to go to St. Anthony’s before every tour and after every tour. I just can not believe what has happened.”
