Two British tourists have been injured in a blast that killed 10 sailors in Sri Lanka.

The British High Commission in Colombo said three British nationals were traveling in a small bus behind a larger coach carrying military personnel to Colombo when a bomb detonated.

The blast ripped apart the coach, killing the sailors and the civilian bus driver, while nine other sailors were injured.

The Britons in a following bus were injured in the attack, but their wounds were not life threatening, said a spokesman for the Commission, adding that a third Briton in the vehicle had escaped unharmed.

The General Hospital in the nearby town of Anuradhapura admitted a Briton named Gillian Williamson, 57, for treatment, according to a hospital worker who answered the phone. He said Williamson’s injuries were not life threatening, before hanging up without providing details.

Two other civilians were taken to National Hospital in Colombo and police identified them as Lindsay Gomez and Jesudason Manoharan. Anil Jasinghe, hospital director, confirmed their arrival but declined to specify their injuries or nationalities.

Another report said that Williamson, of East Harling, Norfolk and another Briton were in Sri Lanka following the marriage of their daughter Lindsey on Sunday to a local resident. Lindsey is a volunteer aid worker specializing in speech therapy.

Their bus, and the coach carrying the military, were on the road from Trincomalee on Sri Lanka's north-east coast, a region which the Foreign Office has ruled off-limits to tourists since the breakdown of the ceasefire.

Rebel Tamil Tigers were immediately blamed by Sri Lankan authorities for the blast, although there was no immediate rebel comment.

The FCO expressly advises against "all but essential travel to the north or east of Sri Lanka." The advice covers Trincomalee, a resort which had become popular with tourists after a ceasefire between the government and rebels in 2002.

But it is again off limits since the breakdown of the ceasefire last year, which was in part due to perceived injustices by the authorities in distributing money and relief following the tsunami in December, 2004.

Today's bomb was the second attack on Sri Lankan troops in as many days. On Monday, a mine blast killed five soldiers and two relief workers in the northern town of Jaffna.

The blast today occurred as top cease-fire monitor Ulf Henricsson was meeting Tamil Tiger leaders - including its political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan - in northern Sri Lanka to discuss the anti-personnel mine blast Monday.

“The talks had already been scheduled about preparations for Geneva talks, but this issue will now be brought up as well,” Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for European cease-fire monitors, said about Monday’s blast.

The government and Tiger rebels are scheduled to meet for peace talks in Switzerland from April 19-21. Sri Lanka’s military also blamed the rebels for Monday’s Claymore blast, but the LTTE denied responsibility.

The Tigers are known for using Claymore mines, which fire hundreds of steel balls propelled by plastic explosives. The mines can be detonated by remote control.

Representatives from the government and the rebels met in Geneva in February and agreed to scale down violence. A sudden escalation of attacks since December has so far killed 187 people, threatening to collapse a four-year-old, Norway-brokered cease-fire.

The rebels have fought since 1983 demanding a separate homeland for the country’s minority Tamils, alleging discrimination by Sinhalese majority. More than 65,000 people have been killed.

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