After shock,rage: No security,insider role,say Lankans

We left at 8.30. Pakistan captain Younis Khan said they were going at 8.35. So there were two escorts we got one escort,and they had one. Normally when all buses go,about four or five escorts go,so they said divide it into two. May be they the terrorists got well-known information8230; for the right time.

There were gunshots on and bullets were passing us. I saw Tharanga Paranavitana bleeding in the chest. I thought he was gone,actually. Thilan Samaraweera was bleeding,Kumar Sangakkara was bleeding from the shoulder. There was blood everywhere. It was frightening, Muralitharan said.

He later told The Indian Express: I dont want to say anything more than what I have already said. There was too much of coincidence in it the events.

Samaraweera,who received bullet injuries on his thigh,told The Indian Express from a Colombo hospital that he thought he would die. Im very happy that my operation was successful and I can play cricket again. When it happened,I thought I would die. I owe my life to the bus driver who got us away to safety.

Team manager and former Test player Brendon Kuruppu said they had approached the authorities for more security due to the political unrest in Lahore,but had been told that the security detail provided was enough. Were not experts,so we take what were told on face value, Kuruppu told The Indian Express.

Australian umpire Taufel and English match-referee Chris Broad were travelling with other match officials in a van behind the the Sri Lankan bus,and while the team managed to get away from the scene of heavy cross-fire,Broad said they were left behind as sitting ducks.

At every junction from the hotel through to where we were attacked and all the way to the ground,there were police in light blue uniform with handguns,controlling traffic, Broad said. How did the terrorists come to the roundabout and how did they start firing and why did these guys not do anything about it? There were plenty of police there,yet these terrorists came in,did what they had to do and then went again.

Taufel said the security personnel abandoned their van. You tell me why no one was caught. You tell me why. Supposedly 25 armed commandos were in our convoy,and when the team bus got going again,we were left on our own, he said on his return to Sydney today.

Its just a game of cricket,this is not a war. On Tuesday morning,we were caught in a war,we were in a war zone. Sometimes if we have a bad day out on the field and perhaps we dont get everything right,at least we say nobodys died. Well on Tuesday,people died and as I was just expressing to my family,I cant explain why Im here. There is no reason for us to still be here8230; I cant explain it.

Taufel described the moments when his vans driver,Mohammad Zafar,was killed after being shot in the neck and head. Thats when his foot basically hit the accelerator,which was in neutral8230; it was revving quite loudly. I recall the ambulance was still on our left-hand side and the door opened at one point and I thought,you beauty,someones come to get us out. It turned out to be a policeman who basically was diving over the top,shut the door behind him and was trying to save his own life.

To which Chris Broad said,what are you doing in here,you should be outside defending us. Chris then asked him to get in the front seat and drive. He said,I cant drive,I dont know how to do drive. We were basically left there stranded and helpless.

Meanwhile,Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt accused Broad of making fabricated,untrue and obnoxious remarks about the security arrangements for the Sri Lanka team and said they would lodge a complaint with the ICC. What he has said about the security is untrue and fabricated. Broad has made obnoxious comments, Butt told reporters in Lahore.