Sri Lanka Continues To Count Dead Bodies As Toll Reaches 290 After Deadly Easter Bomb Attacks

The death toll in the coordinated terror attacks in Sri Lanka, targeting Christian churches and Hotels has risen to 290 on Monday. There are fears of the death toll further rising as over 400 injured, some of them critical are undergoing treatment across various hospitals in Sri Lanka.

After the series of bomb blasts that went off at regular intervals, there are fears of more explosions. An improvised bomb discovered at the main airport in Colombo was defused late Sunday. Meanwhile, a nation-wide curfew which was imposed on Sunday soon after the blasts was lifted on Monday morning.

AFP

This comes as the police claim to have made some significant progress in the case and arrested 24 people in connection with the worst terror attack in the country's history. The day of horror and bloodbath began with bomb explosions at St. Anthony's Church in Kochchikade, St. Sebastian's Church in Katuwapitiya, Katana, and Zion Church in Batticaloa on Sunday morning when hundreds had gathered to celebrate Easter, one of the biggest days in the Christian calender.

AFP

This was followed by explosions in hotel Kingsbury, Shangri-La and Cinnamon Grands later in the day. These high-end hotels were popular with foreign tourists and it appears that they were the targets. So far at least 27 foreign nationals have been killed in the hotel attacks.

At least two of the explosions were carried out by suicide bombers, including the one at Cinnamon Grand hotel. The bomber who had registered at the hotel the night before as Mohamed Azzam Mohamed, was just about to be served at a hotel breakfast buffet when he blew himself up.

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Meanwhile, there are reports that a failure to act upon a specific intelligence input may have resulted in the biggest terror attack in the country. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has accepted that they had information regarding a possible attack but did not take adequate steps to prevent it. As per reports India had warned that National Thowheed Jama'ath of Sri Lanka was planning to carry out suicide attacks in the country.

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The Indian agencies even had given specific details of the possible dates and eight places, a church and a hotel, where Indians came in large numbers. New Delhi had shared this information with Colombo on April 4 and Sri Lanka's police chief Pujuth Jayasundara had sounded a nationwide alert 10 days before the Sunday's attack. "A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian High Commission in Colombo," said the alert.