Seven people were killed in blasts in Sri Lanka's north-east Monday after May Day rallies were cancelled over fear of attacks, officials said.
Five of the victims - four civilians and a sailor - died in the port town of Trincomalee, 260 kilometres (160 miles) north-east of Colombo, a military official there said by telephone. Four sailors were also critically wounded and four civilians hurt in the blast when a mine, attached to a bicycle, was detonated as a navy foot patrol passed by, the military said.
"Two sailors approached the bicycle and were about to check it when the bomb went off," an official told AFP. The civilians were passing the scene at the time of the explosion, he added. In a second attack, two civilians were killed and three wounded in the Weli Oya region, the military said. A third mine also exploded in the island's north as an army truck passed but caused no casualties, they said.
The attacks came as the country marked international labour. But all parties called off their annual rallies - which traditionally attract tens of thousands of people - fearing bomb attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Plan Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said on Sunday the parties agreed to avoid large meetings after a female suicide bomber killed herself and 10 others inside army headquarters in Colombo last Tuesday.