[4] As part of precautions to avoid civilian casualties the military had distributed leaflets requesting local population take shelter at places of worship.

[2][8] The news of the incident was first broken by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which at the time was the only aid agency working in the Tamil areas.

[1][6][7] The Sri Lankan government initially denied any knowledge of the bombing, and then claimed it could have been LTTE mortars that caused the damage.

[2] The Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar denied that the armed forces committed the attack and rebuked the Red Cross for issuing a statement on the basis of "so-called eye witness accounts".

[11] On 11 July, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga released a statement that expressed "sorrow at the loss of lives" and ordered the investigation of the bombing.