COLOMBO: The death toll from the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka has climbed to 290, authorities said. According to police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara, more than 500 people have sustained injuries.
The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago.
Meanwhile the Sri Lanka’s government has put a ban on social networking sites to prevent misleading information about the blasts. Popular messaging services like WhatsApp and Facebook are said to be unavailable to many.
The vast majority of those killed are thought to be Sri Lankan nationals, including scores of Christians who died at Easter church services.
The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it believes 36 foreign nationals are among the dead, with most still unidentified at a Colombo morgue.
The international victims include:
- At least five British citizens – including two with joint US citizenship
- Three Danish citizens
- One Portuguese citizen and three Indian nationals, according to Sri Lankan officials
- Two engineers from Turkey, according to Turkish news outlet Anadolu
- One person from the Netherlands
- One person from Japan, according to Japanese media citing government sources
(Agencies)
Comment