Death toll in Easter blasts at Sri Lanka hotels rises to 207

COLOMBO - A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing at least 207 people, including dozens of foreigners.

The government also imposed a nationwide curfew and curbed social media access to restrict “wrong information” spreading in the country of 21 million people.At least two of them involved suicide bombers, including one who lined up at a hotel breakfast buffet before unleashing carnage.Police said 35 foreigners were among the dead, including British, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese and American citizens.

“A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,” the alert said. Rucki Fernando, a Christian Sri Lankan, told AFP: “We haven’t experienced anything like this in the last 10 years.”Sri Lanka’s Minister of Economic Reforms, Harsha de Silva, described “horrible scenes” at St Anthony’s church.

A manager at the Cinnamon Grand, near the prime minister’s official residence in Colombo, said a suicide bomber blew himself up at the hotel’s restaurant.Later in the afternoon, two people died in a strike at a hotel in the south of Colombo, and a suicide bomber killed three police officers as they raided a house in a northern suburb of the city.Wickremesinghe urged people to “hold our unity as Sri Lankans” and pledged to “wipe out this menace once and for all.

Embassies in Colombo warned their citizens to stay inside, and Sri Lankan Airlines told passengers to arrive at the airport four hours ahead of flights because of ramped-up security.

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