290 DEAD IN SRI LANKAN TERROR ATTACKS
More than 500 hurt in Sri Lanka church, hotel Easter bombings
Coordinated terror bombings in churches and hotels killed 290 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday — including several Americans, authorities said.
Thirteen suspects were arrested after nine explosions hit three churches and three hotels, mostly around Colombo, the country’s capital, said Sri Lankan officials. Most of the attacks were suicide bombings, authorities said.
The death toll included at least 27 foreigners. Besides the U.S., India, Britain, China, Japan and Portugal also lost citizens to the attacks. More than 500 people were said to be injured.
The bloodshed is the worst seen the South Asian island nation since its 26-year civil war ended in 2009.
The first six explosions were nearly simultaneous. They collapsed ceilings and blew out windows in hotels and churches in horrific scenes of smoke, soot, broken glass and blood.
“People were being dragged out,” said Bhanuka Harischandra of Colombo, a 24-year-old founder tech marketing company executive who was on his way to a meeting at Colombo’s Shangri-La Hotel when it was bombed.
“People didn’t know what was going on. It was panic mode,” Harischandra said. He added: “There was blood everywhere.”
Two more blasts occurred when police moved on a suspected terrorist safehouse in the Colombo suburb of Dematagoda. Three police officers were killed when the occupants of the safe house apparently blasted explosives to prevent arrest.
Most of the dead were Sri Lankans — but the blasts at St. Anthony’s Shrine, a church, and the three luxury hotels were at places frequented by tourists.
Father Edmond Tillekeratne of the Archdiocese of Colombo told CNN that there were likely about 1,000 people at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, where one of the attacks took place. The Zion Church in Batticaloa was also targeted.
Local TV showed damage at the Cinnamon Grand, ShangriLa and Kingsbury hotels.
A Sri Lankan government official said that officers were “aware” ahead of time of the attacks, sharing letters dated April 11 titled “Information of an Alleged Plan Attack.”
The letter warned of an “alleged plan of suicidal attack,” according to a CNN translation, and advised “special security measures.”
“Serious action need to be taken as to why this warning was ignored,” tweeted Harin Fernando, the Sri Lankan minister of telecommunications.
Police said the investigation will include whether the country’s intelligence community failed to detect or warn of the attacks,
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he got no warning about the attack.
“For now the priority is to apprehend the attackers,” he said at a press conference Sunday.
Wickremesinghe said he
feared the massacre could trigger instability in Sri Lanka and vowed to “vest all necessary powers with the defense forces” to take action against those responsible.
The government imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and blocked Facebook and other social media.
Pope Francis added an appeal at the end of his traditional Easter Sunday blessing.
“I want to express my loving closeness to the Christian community, targeted while they were gathered in prayer, and all the victims of such cruel violence,” Francis said. “I entrust to the Lord all those who were tragically killed and pray for the injured and all those who are suffering as a result of this dramatic event.”
President Trump and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were among many world leaders to offer their condolences following the horrific attacks.
“The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!” Trump tweeted on Sunday. The president initially tweeted “at least 138 million people” had been killed, but later corrected his miscalculation. Sri Lanka’s population is 21.4 million.
“The United States offers our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wishes a quick recovery to all who were injured,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
Pompeo said the attacks “are a stark reminder of why the United States remains resolved in our fight to defeat terrorism.”
“We stand with the Sri Lankan government and people as they confront violent extremism and have offered our assistance as they work to bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said.
Sri Lanka is roughly 70% Buddhist, while the rest of the population Muslim, Hindu or Christian.