Colombo: More than 150 people were dead and scores others injured in different bomb blasts in Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Churches and hotels were main targets of the bomb blasts on the day of Easter.
Media reports say in one church, St. Sebastian’s in Katuwapitiya, north of the capital Colombo, more than 50 people had been killed.
Most of the targets were either in or close to the capital, Colombo. Among the hotels targeted was the Cinnamon Grand, a luxury hotel in the center of the city.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Hospitals were struggling to cope with the influx of casualties.
At least 160 people injured in the St Anthony’s blast had been admitted to the Colombo National hospital alone by mid-morning. The main hospital in the eastern port city of Batticaloa had received more than 300 people with injuries following the blast at the Zion church.
A smaller blast at a hotel near the national zoo in Colombo came about three hours after the first attacks.
The prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, convened Sri Lanka‘s top military officials at an emergency meeting of the national security council. The government also imposed a curfew.
Sri Lanka is a popular tourist destination and nine foreigners were among the dead, officials said.