''Pillars
of smoke and flame rose over the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo yesterday
as mobs attacked the minority Tamil community and looted their homes and
stores...Some of the worst rioting erupted in the morning only 200
yards away from President Jayawardene's house... All over the city by
mid-morning lorries jammed with young men shouting anti Tamil slogans,
were moving into Tamil areas and into shopping
centres picking out Tamil shops... Petrol was siphoned from cars into
buckets and plastic bowls to speed the work of arson.. By noon Colombo
resembled a city after a bombing raid. Smoke obscured the sun, main
roads were blocked by burnt out vehicles.. The rioting surged into the
heart of the city. In area after area Sinhalese rioters systematically
picked out Tamil homes and shops, whether occupied or empty, and looted
and destroyed them...'' (Guardian, 26 July 1983)
''A tourist told yesterday how she watched in horror as a Sinhala mob deliberately burned alive a bus load of Tamils... Mrs.Eli Skarstein, back home in Stavanger, Norway, told how she and her 15 year old daughter, Kristin, witnessed one massacre. 'A mini bus full of Tamils were forced to stop in front of us in Colombo' she said. A Sinhalese mob poured petrol over the bus and set it on fire. They blocked the car door and prevented the Tamils from leaving the vehicle. 'Hundreds of spectators watched as about 20 Tamils were burned to death'. Mrs. Skarstein added: 'We can't believe the official casualty figures. Hundreds may be thousands must have been killed already." (London Daily Express, 29th August 1983)
''A tourist told yesterday how she watched in horror as a Sinhala mob deliberately burned alive a bus load of Tamils... Mrs.Eli Skarstein, back home in Stavanger, Norway, told how she and her 15 year old daughter, Kristin, witnessed one massacre. 'A mini bus full of Tamils were forced to stop in front of us in Colombo' she said. A Sinhalese mob poured petrol over the bus and set it on fire. They blocked the car door and prevented the Tamils from leaving the vehicle. 'Hundreds of spectators watched as about 20 Tamils were burned to death'. Mrs. Skarstein added: 'We can't believe the official casualty figures. Hundreds may be thousands must have been killed already." (London Daily Express, 29th August 1983)
