The Sri Lanka vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara has confirmed he and his team-mates were "safe and out of danger" after gun attacks on their team bus in Lahore. The batsman was one of five players who received shrapnel wounds when gunmen opened fire as the bus made its way to the way to the Gaddafi Stadium ahead of the third day of the second Test against Pakistan.
Sangakkara told CNN-IBN: "There are a few injuries but everyone is safe and all the players are out of danger. We are shocked, but apart from that everyone is OK. Thilan [Samaraweera] has a shrapnel wound in his leg, but he is fine. [Tharanga] Paranavitana had shrapnel in his chest, but thank God it wasn't very deep and just on the surface. I had shrapnel injuries in my shoulder, but they have all been removed and I'm okay now.
"Ajantha [Mendis] had shrapnel in his neck and scalp, but he too has had medical attention and is fine. Everyone else is perfectly alright." Thilan Thushara was the fifth player confirmed by Sri Lanka sports minister Gamini Lokuge to have been injured.
The remainder of Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan has been cancelled and the touring players were this morning waited to be airlifted from the stadium. A vehicle carrying match officials, which was following the Sri Lankan team bus, was also caught up in the attack. The driver was hit by gunfire and the officials were driven to the stadium by a policeman.
The Test was being umpired by Simon Taufel and Steve Davies while Nadeem Ghauri was the TV umpire and Chris Broad - who escaped unhurt as his driver was killed, father of England bowler Stuart Broad, was the match referee. Former England bowler Dominic Cork, in Lahore to commentate for Pakistan TV, told Sky Sports News: "He [Broad] said it was the most frightening experience of his life. Their driver was shot and they had to ask a policeman to drive them to the stadium."
Paul Farbrace, the team's British assistant coach, was slightly hurt, suffering a shrapnel wound to his right arm. The reserve umpire, Ahsan Raza, a Pakistani, was critically hurt. "We've been in touch with Paul Farbrace this morning and he's OK," said Paul Millman, the chief executive of Kent, where Farbrace used to play. "We know he was hit in the shoulder by shrapnel, but it's been taken out. We're all massively shocked, but I gather they're getting them all out of there. He's a strong guy and I think he'll be fine, but this is a shocking incident none of us would have wanted to see. It's awful but thank goodness he's OK."
Farbrace's wife, Liz, said he had phoned to reassure his family about his safety. "He phoned me at 4am this morning our time to tell me there'd been this incident and to reassure me that he was OK and to let our daughters and family know that he was OK," she said. "He was all right at the time when he phoned," she said.
"He said they had been helicoptered out of the ground and I don't know where he is. They've been taken somewhere and they're just waiting to find out how they can get back to Colombo now. I'm very relieved. It's nice to know they have minor injuries but obviously your thoughts go to the families that have lost people."
The International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat released a statement, saying: "It is a source of great sadness that there have been a number of fatalities in this attack and it is also very upsetting for the wider cricket family that some of the Sri Lanka players and one match official have been injured in this attack. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with the injured people and also the families of those who have died.
"I have confirmed with both member boards that the remainder of the tour has been cancelled and we are working hard to get our match officials out of the area as safely and as quickly as possible. I know, also, that the Pakistan Cricket Board is working with Sri Lanka Cricket to make sure the players are flown home at the earliest opportunity."
This was the first Test series to have been played in the country for 14 months. Australia last year refused to tour Pakistan amid the unrest which followed the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The Champions Trophy in the country was also called off, while Sri Lanka were only touring because of the breakdown in relations between Pakistan and India.
The Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kuruppu insisted officials had been right to take the team to Pakistan. "I don't think it was a mistake to come to Pakistan in the first place," he said on CNN-IBN. "The Pakistan Cricket Board has given us all assurances that everything would be fine. We are lucky that none of the players were injured critically. It is a very sad situation, but we would have to take this incident into consideration when we plan future tours to this country."
Sangakkara added: "It's very unfortunate that this has happened. Everything had gone on very well until this morning, but it just goes to show that nothing is as it seems. I don't regret coming here to play cricket because that's what we have been doing all our lives. That is our profession. But I regret this incident, what has happened and the situation that we have had to go through. All we want to do now is to go back home to our families, get back home and be safe."
Pakistan's one-day series with Australia will be played in United Arab Emirates because of the tourists' safety fears. Pakistan are also co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup, with one semi-final slated for the Gaddafi Stadium.