At least 228 people killed, several hundred hurt in wave of bombings targeting churches, hotels across Sri Lanka
  • 5 years ago
Let's turn our attention the senseless violence in Sri Lanka.
At least 220 people have been killed and several hundred others injured after eight coordinated bombings struck the small island nation on Easter Sunday.
The explosions occurred at churches as worshippers attended Easter Mass.
There were also bombings at three hotels popular with foreign tourists.
Our Hong Yoo has the latest. Fill us in.
Well Mark, we now know at least 228 people have been confirmed dead and several hundred are injured.
This was an attack on eight locations including churches and hotels in a number of different cities.
Around 32 foreign nationals are among the dead, including several Americans and 5 British nationals.
The death toll is expected to rise.
It's unclear who is behind the attacks, but around 13 people -- all Sri Lankans -- have been arrested in connection with the coordinated bombings.
The six initial explosions that took place at three churches and three hotels appeared timed to cause maximum casualties among worshippers attending Easter Sunday services and customers eating breakfast in the hotels' restaurants.
The Sri Lankan government has declared a curfew in Colombo, the nation's capital where most of the bombings took place, and blocked access to social media and messaging sites such as Facebook and WhatsApp.
Several hours after the attacks, local police had security forces raid a house in Colombo during which three officers died from suicide bomb explosions.
Sunday's violence punctures a decade of relative peace in the country following the end of its civil war in 2009.
Sri Lanka has since turned itself into a popular tourist destination.