Samaraweera hit in chest: Geo TV

Sri Lankan cricketer Thilan Samaraweera has been hit in the chest, after gunmen fired on his team’s bus as it drove into Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday, reports Pakistan’s Geo TV.

Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said five people were killed in the attack by a dozen gunmen, who fired AK 47s and rockets and hurled grenades as the bus drove to the 60,000-seater stadium.

Sri Lanka’s sports minister said five players and an assistant coach were wounded, two of whom were being treated in hospital.

The Samaraweera seemed to be the worst hit among his team members.

Police said it was unclear whether injuries were caused by bullets, shrapnel or flying shards of glass.

“Police are chasing the terrorists,” police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said. “They appeared to be trained men.”

The attack had echoes with one on the Indian city of Mumbai in November which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned tour of Pakistan.

India blamed that attack on Pakistan-trained militants and the incident sharply raised tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Sri Lanka, which had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out, immediately cancelled the rest of the tour.

“We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible,” a Sri Lankan cricket official said.

Pakistan TV showed footage of gunmen with rifles and backpacks running through the streets and firing on unidentified vehicles.

The driver of the Sri Lankan team coach said one of the attackers had thrown a grenade under the bus, but it did not detonate.

A witness told Reuters he believed two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden.

Shopkeeper Ahmed Ali said the two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.

“It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the time,” said a Reuters witness who had been on his way to cover the test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.