‘Sri Lanka Blasts Toll Rises To 290’
COLOMBO — The toll in a series of eight blasts targeting mostly churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday has risen to 290, a police spokesman said Monday.
More than 500 people were wounded in the blasts, he added, in the deadliest violence since the end of the country’s long-running civil war a decade ago.
Curfew lifted a day after Sri Lanka rocked with multiple blasts
Sri Lanka on Monday lifted the curfew which was indefinitely imposed after the island nation was rocked with eight blasts targeting churches and hotels that killed over 290 people.
Sri Lankan government on Sunday imposed curfew with immediate effect after the blasts which was lifted at 6 am Monday morning, police said.
A string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing 215 people, including three Indians, and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE.
Sri Lanka Air Force said it found an improvised explosives device along a road leading to the departure terminal at the Colombo international airport Sunday night.
It was a crude six- foot pipe bomb that was found by the roadside, an air force spokesman said.
We have removed it and safely defused it at an air force location, he added.
Sri Lankan Airlines said there were disruptions to flights and has asked leaving passengers to report to the check in counters at least four hours prior to departure because of tight security checks at the International airport.
24 people arrested in connection with multiple blasts in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 24 people in connection with the multiple blasts that rocked the island nation on Sunday, killing over 290 people.
A string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing over 290 people, including five Indians, and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the number of arrests on the incidents have now gone up to 24.
However, the government said they will not disclose the details of the suspects involved in the attacks to prevent them from getting publicity.
“Don’t give extremists a voice. Don’t help to make them martyrs,” State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, told reporters when asked for details of those in custody.
Sri Lanka Air Force said it found an improvised explosives device along a road leading to the departure terminal at the Colombo international airport Sunday night. AFP
