Sri Lanka Terror Attack LIVE: The number of Indians dead in the devastating Sri Lanka blasts has risen to eight, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed on Twitter today. In a series of suicide blasts on Sunday, the island nation lost nearly 300 people.
An explosion went off on Monday in a van near a church in Sri Lanka’s Kotahena area where scores were killed the previous day, when bomb squad officials were trying to defuse it, Reuters quoted a witness said. “The van exploded when the bomb defusing unit of the STF (Special Task Force) and air force tried to diffuse the bomb,” the witness said. Police said that a suspicious parcel has been found at a fort. The area has been evacuated and officers are conducting investigations.
Sri Lankan authorities have ordered a state of emergency to be introduced from midnight Monday following the deadly Easter attacks, the president’s office said. The special measures are being brought in “to allow the police and the three forces to ensure public security,” the statement said, referring to the army, navy and air force. It said the measure would be confined to dealing with terrorism and would not impinge on freedom of expression.
A local outfit identified as the National Tawheed Jamath is suspected of plotting the blasts, a top Sri Lankan minister said on Monday. Health Minister and the government spokesman, Rajitha Senaratne, also said that all suicide bombers involved in the blasts are believed to be Sri Lankan nationals.
Speaking at a press conference here, the minister said that the Chief of National Intelligence had warned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) regarding the probable attacks before April 11.
“On April 4, international intelligence agencies had warned of these attacks. The IGP was informed on April 9,” Senaratne said. He said that the local outfit identified as the National Tawheed Jamath – a radical Muslim group – is suspected of plotting the deadly explosions. “There may be international links to them,” he added.
At least six Indians, including four JD(s) workers, have been killed in a string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, which struck three churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, officials said on Monday.
The blasts targeted St Anthony’s Church in Colombo, St Sebastian’s Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa around 8.45 a.m. (local time) as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress. Three explosions were reported from the five-star hotels — the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury. Foreigners and locals who were injured in hotel blasts were admitted to the Colombo General Hospital.
The police said on Monday that at least six Indian nationals have been reported among the foreigners who died in the blasts.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday identified two more individuals killed in the blasts on Sunday. “We sadly confirm the deaths of the following two individuals in the blasts yesterday, KG Hanumantharayappa and M Rangappa,” Swaraj retweetd Indian High Commission in Colombo’s tweet.
On Sunday, Swaraj, in a series of tweets, identified the three Indians as Lakshmi, Narayan Chandrashekhar and Ramesh. “Indian High Commission in Colombo has conveyed that National Hospital has informed them about the death of three Indian nationals,” she said in a tweet.
On Sunday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan identified a Keralite, PS Rasina (58), among those killed in the deadly bomb blasts.
Around 500 people, including Indians, were injured in the blasts — one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s history. No group has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attacks.
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