Listen Live

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Sri Lankan woman studying in Indiana was in her home country when several churches, hotels, and other buildings in Colombo were bombed.

Dr. Puja Amarasinghe is already a medical doctor but is now studying to get her PhD in Communication Studies at IUPUI in Indianapolis. She was visiting family in Colombo when explosions shook her hometown. She spoke with WISH-TV via Skype hours after the explosions left more than 200 people dead and hundreds more injured.

“I’m afraid to go outside and travel on roads at the moment,” Amarasinghe said. “It’s scary being here.”

Amarasinghe and her husband had planned their month long trip to Colombo to celebrate Sinhalese New Year with relatives. They were at a New Year’s gathering Sunday morning with friends and family when they learned about the bombings.

“We were doing the games [and&#93 traditional things,” Amarasinghe said. “Suddenly, we heard this incident and all the things were canceled. All the people went home and people ran to help the others.”

Amarasinghe dropped what she was doing and rushed to a hospital to help treat the wounded.

She is prepared at all hours of the day for calls from the hospital and said she plans to spend the rest of her vacation “doing anything possible” to help the bombing victims.

WISH-TV contributed to this article

(PHOTO: WISH-TV)