21 killed after bomb explodes in an airliner at airport in Sri Lanka
This week in 1986, 21 people were killed and 41 injured after a bomb exploded in an airliner at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka. There were 128 passengers on board – among them 25 Britons, five of whom were injured.
On the way to the Sri Lankan capital, the Air Lanka Tristar had come from London’s Gatwick airport, stopping at Zurich and Dubai.
“All of a sudden there was a massive, massive flash bang with flames,” said one of the British survivors.
“The ceiling came down and our chair was blown backwards.
“When I managed to climb over the chairs, I looked out and there it was – there was nothing.
“The plane had been blown in half just right behind our chairs.”
The next day, a search of the aircraft uncovered a parcel containing uniforms with the insignia of the Black Tigers, the commando wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the fiercest of the Tamil guerrilla groups.
The dispute between the ruling Sinhalese and the minority Tamils began in the late 1970s.
Back on home soil, the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson was laid to rest alongside her husband, the abdicated King Edward VIII, at Frogmore in Windsor.
She was buried in an English oak coffin, marked with a silver plate inscribed simply “Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, 1896-1986”.
The 100 guests attending the funeral service at St George’s Chapel included the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, her husband Denis, and the Labour leader, Neil Kinnock.
In sport, it was a great week for Liverpool FC.
The Reds won the Football League First Division title for a record 16th time after winning 1-0 at Chelsea thanks to a goal from Kenny Dalglish, who was in his first season as the club’s player-manager.
Days later, the first allMerseyside FA Cup final ended in a 3–1 win for Liverpool over Everton.