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Sri Lanka’s World Cup cricketers are stranded in London after their scheduled flight for home was cancelled following Tamil Tiger rebel air raids in Colombo, officials said on Tuesday.

The players were booked on Emirates Airlines for the return journey from London via Dubai, but the airline has since pulled out of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket, which had organised elaborate plans to welcome the cricketers who reached the final in the Caribbean, said it was uncertain when the team would return home.

“There are 22 in the national contingent and we are trying to find seats to get them all home this week,” Sri Lanka Cricket spokesman Samantha Algama said. Emirates and Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific indefinitely suspended their flights to Sri Lanka following Sunday’s air raids by Tamil Tigers near the capital’s international airport.

The guerrillas used two light aircraft to bomb two fuel depots near Colombo. Singapore Airlines said it would only fly in to the Bandaranaike International Airport — which shares a runway with the Sri Lankan air force — during daylight hours.Sri Lanka lost to Australia in Saturday’s final in Barbados.
Source:Cricket News