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 Sri Lankan foreign ministry reportedly stating that at least five British citizens were killed in the attacks, including two who hold dual US and UK citizenship.
More on the five British citizens reportedly killed in the attack. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry has said the nationalities of 11 of the foreigners killed in the Easter Sunday blasts have been verified.
They include three Indians, one Portuguese national, two Turkish nationals, three British nationals and two holding US and British nationalities.
The statement also says nine foreigners are reported missing.
Earlier the country’s foreign minister said at least 27 foreign citizens had been killed. The emergency hotline to assist the families of affected foreign citizens is +94 112323015.
Two leading Muslim groups in Sri Lanka have condemning the attacks on churches and hotels in the country on Easter Sunday that killed more than 200 people.
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka said it mourns the loss of innocent people in the blasts by extremists who seek to divide religious and ethnic groups. The All Ceylon Jammiyyathul Ulama, a body of Muslim clerics, said the targeting Christian places of worship cannot be accepted.
Muslims make up about 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s population of 23 million people.
The Tamil actress Radikaa Sarathkumar said she walked out of the Cinnamon Grand hotel just before this morning’s explosion.
After condemning the series of deadly bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has been speaking to voters at an election rally in the western state of Rajasthan.
He suggested only he could defeat the “terrorists” also threatening India. “Should terrorism be finished or not? Who can do this? Can you think of any name aside from Modi? Can anybody else do this?”
Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have promoted the government’s national security record as a vote winner in India’s staggered general election that began on 11 April and will end on 19 May. Votes will be counted on 23 May.
All we know so far on the five British citizens killed in the bomb attacks in Sri Lanka:
A TV chef and her daughter are believed to be among the dead following a series of bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
Shantha Mayadunne and her daughter Nisanga, who according to her Facebook page studied at the University of London, are reported as having died in the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo.
Nisanga posted a photo of her eating breakfast with her family on the morning of the attack.
Radha Fonseca, a friend of Nisanga, told Gulf News: “When I heard the news, I was left numbed and shocked. I don't know what more to say.
“Nilanga was a very popular girl in college. Besides the fact that she was bright and smart, her mother Shantha Mayadunne, a renowned chef, made her more popular in college.
“She was well respected and an inspirational chef for Sri Lankans.”
More on the social media shutdown put in place by Sri Lankan official earlier today. The government said it had “temporarily” blocked sites, including Facebook and Instagram, to combat the spreading of false reports.
The shutdown will continue into investigations are concluded, according to Sri Lankan media.
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