He was attending the rally when the blast went off. Spectators and security personnel account for most of the wounded. The explosion Thursday was the second at a ruling party election rally in the past week. More than 40 people have been killed in bomb attacks and other clashes between political parties during the campaign for the general elections which are set for October 10th. Meanwhile, security has been tightened in Colombo ahead of the elections.
Government officials say the military has been put on full alert throughout the country.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are fighting a war for a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in a predominantly Sinhalese Sri Lanka.