At least 52 killed, hundreds injured in string of blasts targeting churches, hotels in Sri Lanka

by Tauqeer Abbas
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Shafaqna Pakistan: At least 52 people were killed and hundreds injured in a series of near-simultaneous explosions targeting three churches and three high-end hotels in three Sri Lankan cities on Easter Sunday, police said.

The blasts hit three high-end hotels and one church in the capital, while two additional churches were targeted outside Colombo, in Negombo and Batticaloa, police said. An official speaking on condition of anonymity said that they suspect the blasts at two churches were carried out by suicide bombers.

The first explosions were reported at St Anthony’s Church in Colombo and St Sebastian’s in the town of Negombo just outside the capital.

An individual identified as Alex Agileson who was in the vicinity said the buildings in the surrounding area shook with the blast. He said a number of injured were carried off in ambulances.

At least 160 people injured in the St Anthony’s blast have been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital by mid-morning, an official told AFP.

National Hospital spokesperson Dr. Samindi Samarakoon said nearly 300 wounded were admitted to the capital’s main hospital.

“A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there,” read a post in English on the Facebook page of the St Sebastian’s Church at Katuwapitiya in Negombo.

Shortly after those blasts were reported, police confirmed three hotels in the capital had also been hit, along with a church in the town of Batticalao, in the east of the country.

An official at the Batticaloa hospital told AFP that more than 300 people had been admitted with injuries following the blast there.

Photos circulating on social media showed the roof of one church had been almost blown off in the blast. The floor was littered with a mixture of roof tiles, splintered wood and blood. Several people could be seen covered in blood, with some trying to help those with more serious injuries. The images could not immediately be verified.

Only around 6 per cent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka is Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups.

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