Sri Lanka all-rounder Dasun Shanaka recounts April 21 blast horror

Nearly 360 people died while more than 500 were injured in a series of blasts that rocked the island-nation of Sri Lanka on April 21. The targets were churches were Easter masses had gathered as well as top hotels and the attacks led to deaths of several foreigners as well. Global condemnation poured in for the attacks and the cricketing fraternity, too, condoled the deaths.

Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka revisited the horror hours after it took place saying he had skipped a session at the church on Sunday since he was tired of travelling the day before. He said he was at his home when he heard a sound and then people said it was an explosion at the church. The 27-year-old then rushed to the church where he saw shocking scenes.

Chaos in the church

“Normally I would have gone to church but the day before I had gone to Anuradhapura. So I was tired, that morning, when I was at my house, I heard a sound, and then people were saying a bomb had gone off at the church. I rushed there, and I’ll never forget the scene,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Shanaka as saying.

The cricketer added that the entire church was destroyed in the attack and people were dragging lifeless bodies. He said he first started looking for his mother and grandmother following the attack while his friends remained on the spot to help others. A number of churches across the country were targeted in the attack.

“My first instinct was to look for my mother. Once I spotted her, I took her away from that area. Then I began looking for my grandmother, but when I heard that she had been sitting inside, my heart sank, if you saw the scene, you would know there was no way anyone inside could have survived because simply the debris from the blast had injured everyone even in the vicinity,” he said, adding that his grandmother got saved by the corpses lying around her though she got shrapnel injury in her head.

Shanaka has played in three Tests, 19 ODIs and 27 T20Is scoring over 700 runs and taking 25 wickets since his debut in 2015.

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