At least 16 people were killed and 40 wounded when a bomb ripped through a packed commuter bus on the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital this afternoon, police said.

Several passengers also suffered burn injuries as the bus caught fire shortly after the powerful blast.

“Sixteen people killed and about 40 injured from the explosion,” NK Ilangakoon, a police spokesman, said. “52 people are being treated in two hospitals,” he added.

A doctor at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital said 12 bodies had been admitted, including a child.

The explosion took place at about 6:45 pm local time while the vehicle, which had passengers on it, was at a private bus stand in the town of Piliyandala just south of the capital, Colombo.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but authorities blamed Tamil Tiger guerrillas who have been involved in heavy fighting with government troops on the Jaffna Peninsula in the far north of the island.

A similar blast in February wounded 18 bus passengers. In the same month, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels used a parcel bomb to blow up a crowded bus in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 20 people.

“This is definitely an LTTE act,” Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels, more often known as the Tamil Tigers.

Rasiah Ilanthirayan, a spokesman for the rebels, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The rebels, responsible for scores of suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians, are listed as a terror group by the United States, European Union and India.

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