By our correspondent in Male’
Two British tourists may have to be evacuated after sustaining serious injuries on Saturday in the first-ever bomb blast in the Maldives. The attack which was targeted at tourists has left at least 12 tourists injured. Among the injured are 8 Chinese, 2 Japanese and 2 British citizens. The 2 British citizens are being treated at the Intensive Care Unit of ADK Hospital.
The bomb blast occurred around 2.30 pm in Sultan Park, the main park of Male’. The park is a popular sight-seeing attraction for tourists, who come from their reclusive tourist resorts for shopping and sight-seeing in the capital island. The park is hardly used by Maldivians except on Fridays. The park has a tradition of being unwelcome for people with its barbed wires and limited opening hours.
Witnesses said a sound like the ring of a mobile phone was heard just before the explosion. Fragments of a mobile phone and other devices which could have been used as a detonator have been discovered from the scene. There are reports that a gas cylinder and a washing machine timer or motor were among the items found from the scene. Nails were scattered on the ground and it is believed that they were used as shrapnel-generating objects in the improvised explosive device (IED). Witnesses said they saw tourists running away from the scene with their clothes on fire.
Personnel from Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) combed the Sultan Park for more explosive devices in the afternoon. Maldives Police Service sealed the area and conducted their investigations.
Maldives attracts 500,000 tourists a year, a figure higher than the country’s population. Tourism is the main source of income for the Maldives.
“The Maldives has never had something like this before. We are taking this very seriously because tourism is our life blood,” Chief Government Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu) told the Associated Press on Saturday.
Minister of Home Affairs Abdulla Kamaludeen told Television Maldives that this was an act of terrorism and condemned the attack.
The attack occurred in the vicinity of the headquarters of MNDF. An explosion near the entrance of the park is seen from CCTV footage.
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