Sri Lanka news: Five British citizens among more than 200 killed after eight explosions hit churches and hotels
Security officials arrest 13 suspects over Easter Sunday violence
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Your support makes all the difference.More than 200 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after eight bombs were detonated at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
Ruwan Wijewardena, the country’s defence minister, described the blasts as terrorist attacks by religious extremists, though no group has claimed responsibility for the violence.
Most of the explosions are believed to have been suicide bombings, which occurred at sites mainly in and around the capital of Colombo.
Officials said that 13 suspects had been arrested in connection to the attacks.
Three police officers were also killed while carrying out a security raid at a suspected safe house several hours after the blasts occurred.
The majority of the victims are Sri Lankan but several citizens of other countries were also killed.
At least five British citizens lost their lives in the attacks.
Citizens from the US, Turkey, Denmark, China and Portugal were also among the dead.
The Sri Lankan government has declared a dawn-to-dusk curfew in Colombo and blocked access to social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp.
It is unclear when the curfew will be lifted.
Additional reporting by agencies
If you would like to read about the aftermath of the attacks please see what was our live coverage below:
The British high commissioner James Dauris has said he has visited UK citizens wounded in the attack and receiving treatment in hospital.
“I’ve been speaking this afternoon with Brits in hospital who have been affected by today's senseless attacks.”
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Travel company Kuoni, one of the big firms organising British holidays to Sri Lanka, has confirmed all its guests are safe.
The company said: “We are monitoring the situation closely alongside our team in Sri Lanka, Abta and the FCO. For guests who are in resort we are updating them on the situation and the latest travel advice as it evolves. We have advised those due to fly home today that transfers have been brought forward to allow for extra security checks at the airport, which remains open.
“We are guided by the FCO advice and will continue to work closely with our ground agent and the authorities to ensure we keep all customers in resort and those due to travel, fully updated on their travel arrangements and options.”
More on the latest Foreign Office advice here:
Two Turkish citizens were among the more than 200 killed in bomb blasts at three churches and four hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday, according to Turkey’s state media Anadolu.
The agency said the Turkish citizens were engineers working on a project in Sri Lanka.
SriLankan Airlines has said travellers can still fly during the 6pm to 6am curfew, but must be ready to produce their tickets and passports.
The airline said “passengers of all airlines flying out of Bandaranaike International Airport during the period, that they can reach the airport, by producing their air tickets and passports to security forces and check points”.
Children were among those to have died in the attacks in Sri Lanka, according to the deputy director of Batticaloa Teaching Hospital.
Dr Julaveerasingam Mohanakumar told the BBC: “We got 40 casualties to the accident and emergency unit and we got 25 dead bodies and of them five bodies were badly burnt and difficult to make identification.
“Initially, we got five dead children and a lot of children sustained injuries also. I actually don’t know the number – about 15 children got admitted with injuries.”
(AFP)
Out of Sri Lanka's total population of about 22 million, 70 per cent are Buddhist, 12.6 per cent Hindu, 9.7 per cent Muslim and 7.6 per cent Christian, according to the country's 2012 census.
Conservative MEP Nirj Deva is said to have narrowly avoided one of the bomb explosions at the hotel where he was staying in Colombo. He told Sky News he “missed the bomb by about one hour” after he delayed leaving the airport.
Mr Deva said he “arrived at the scene which was just terrible - a number of tourists had perished in the lobby of the hotel and some of the waiters and staff.”
He added: “Our hearts and prayers and thoughts go to those families who are suffering as their loved ones are either dying or injured in hospital. There is no sense to this absurd, disgusting act of senseless murder.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed his “deep shock” over the deadly attacks in Sri Lanka.
Netanyahu issued a statement on Sunday stating that “Israel stands ready to assist the authorities in Sri Lanka at this difficult time.”
He said “the entire world must unite in the battle against the scourge of terrorism”.
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