Deadly explosions hit Sri Lanka churches, hotels on Easter Sunday

[nitpicker]

Source: DW

Multiple explosions hit Sri Lanka on Sunday, including blasts at churches during Easter mass, police and media said.

Police cited by AFP news agency said at least 42 people had been killed in the blasts. Hundreds more are said to have been injured.

One church, St Anthony's Shrine (top photo), was in the north of the capital, Colombo, and another, St. Sebastian's Church, in the nearby town of Negombo, police said. The third church was in the eastern town of Batticaloa, where a hospital official told AFP that more than 300 people were receiving treatment for injuries sustained in the blast.

Explosions also hit three five-star hotels, injuring several people including foreigners, police said. They were named as the Cinnamon Grand, the Kingsbury and the Shangri-La, all in the center of Colombo.
(snip)

Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/deadly-explosions-hit-sri-lanka-churches-hotels-on-easter-sunday/a-48420434

[nitpicker]

1. Link tio The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/21/sri-lanka-explosions-80-believed-injured-in-blasts-at-two-churches

[trueblue2007]

18. Authorities were warned on April 4 14 days before these incidents occurred we had been informed

Authorities were warned on April 4

Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman, Rajitha Senaratne, is addressing media in Colombo.

“On the 4th of April, 14 days before these incidents occurred we had been informed about these incidents,” he says.

Earlier, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had said police had been warned at least ten days ago.

“On the 9th of April, the chief of national intelligence wrote a letter and in this letter many of the names of the members of the terrorist organisation were written down,” Senaratne said. “The prime minister was not informed by these letters and revelations”.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Sri Lanka explosions: 100 killed as churches and hotels targeted

At least 100 people are reported to have been killed and hundreds more injured in explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka.

At least six explosions have been reported. Three churches in Kochchikade, Negombo and Batticaloa were targeted during Easter services.

The Shangri La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels, all in Colombo, were also hit.
...
Reuters quoted a police source as saying more than 50 died in Negombo alone. Hospital sources in Batticaloa said at least 27 people had died there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-48001720

BBC radio just said 137 dead, 400 injured, and that Sri Lankan TV says 160 dead.

[nitpicker]

3. Link to BBC live thread update

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-48002165

((now 137 deaths reported))

[canetoad]

4. It gets worse

Sri Lanka bombings: 138 killed, 400 injured as explosions rock Catholic churches during during Easter service

April 21, 2019 — 3.27pm

Colombo: At least 138 people have been killed and more than 400 were injured in six explosions in Sri Lanka on Sunday, hospital and police officials said.

Three of the near-simultaneous explosions took place in Catholic churches where Easter services were underway while three other explosions were reported in five star hotels, according to police.

The first was reported in a church located in the capital. The other blasts followed within half an hour.

One of the churches targeted was St Anthony's in Colombo. The other two were St Sebastian's in Negombo, 30 kilometres from the capital and another in Batticaloa, 250 kilometres east of the capital.

Officials have not spoken of a terrorist attack, but the blasts appeared to target religious places and the economy, according to initial local media reports.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/scores-hurt-in-sri-lanka-easter-church-bombings-20190421-p51fyn.html

[Lochloosa]

5. Up to 156 now

[trueblue2007]

19. they even had terrorists names !!!!!!! did nothing

To recap: the health minister said authorities were warned two weeks before the attacks, and had the names of attackers, but this information was not shared with prime minister Wickremesinghe. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/apr/21/sri-lanka-explosions-dozens-killed-and-hundreds-injured-in-church-and-hotel-blasts

[Recursion]

7. Conceivably, although not many Muslims on Sri Lanka

And they hate Buddhists and Hindus a lot more than they do Christians. The island's main history of violence has been Hindu vs. Buddhist.

[marble falls]

9. Sri Lanka has had bombings that were worse than Sept 11. Pray for end of violence there.

[Igel]

10. And yet the distribution is evidence

either for Islamists or xenophobes (with Xianity considered "foreign", less and less of an option, but considering that Catholicism is still an outsider there, possible).

The violence was Hindu/Buddhist, but also Tamil/Sinhala, often Indian Tamils. That's the Hindu/Buddhist split.

Wiki gives the breakdown as 9% or so Muslim, 11% older Tamil, 4% Indian Tamil, 74% or so Sinhala.


On edit: Part of me wants to suspect that this is payback for Christchurch. Put that in single digits for probability.

[Recursion]

11. Not really. The new generation of Tamils has learned

That if you strike Christians and tourists it gets western attention.

[nitpicker]

8. BBC and Guardian live threads

Reporting 7 arrested.

[Polybius]

12. Why can't people let other people worship in peace?

The people in that church weren't bothering anyone.

[Scarsdale]

13. Cowardly people like to feel superior.

Surprised they did not take "credit" for these atrocities. How does a person plot to kill people they do not know? Families will be torn apart. For WHAT? Deepest sympathy for all the suffering on this Easter. Total waste of life for nothing. There is no place safe anymore.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. How sad

[nitpicker]

15. Link to BBC update

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-48002165

(snip)
As night falls in Sri Lanka, we are pausing our live coverage until Monday morning local time. Here's what we know so far about the attacks:
•At least 207 people have been killed and 450 hurt in explosions at churches and high-end hotels
•A foreign ministry official said at least 27 foreign nationals were among the dead
•Eight people have now been arrested in connection with the blasts
(snip)

[Eugene]

16. 290 Dead, 500 Injured In Serial Bomb Blasts In Sri Lanka: Updates

Source: NDTV

290 Dead, 500 Injured In Serial Bomb Blasts In Sri Lanka: Updates

Bomb Blast in Sri Lanka Updates: A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing 290 people.

World | Edited by Niharika Banerjee | Updated: April 22, 2019 08:30 IST

NEW DELHI:
A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing 290 people, including dozens of foreigners. The apparently coordinated attacks were the deadliest to hit the country in the decade since the end of a bloody civil war that killed up to 100,000 people and evoked painful memories for many Sri Lankans. They also marked a devastating escalation of violence against the country's Christian minority that has been targeted in the past, but never to such brutal effect. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the government said eight people had been arrested and investigators would look into whether the attackers had "overseas links". Sri Lanka also imposed a nationwide curfew and curbed social media access to prevent "wrong information" from spreading in the country of 21 million people. The powerful blasts -- six in quick succession and then two more hours later -- injured hundreds. At least two of them involved suicide bombers, including one who lined up at a hotel breakfast buffet before unleashing carnage.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sri-lanka-blasts-updates-207-dead-450-injured-in-8-bomb-blasts-in-sri-lanka-2026473

Link to tweet

[nitpicker]

17. The latest summary from The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/apr/21/sri-lanka-explosions-dozens-killed-and-hundreds-injured-in-church-and-hotel-blasts

At least 290 people have been killed and 500 injured by a series of eight explosions targeting churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday night.
24 people have been arrested, and the defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene said the culprits were religious extremists, but no group has yet claimed responsibility.
The prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said security services had been “aware of information” of a possible attack up to 10 days ago, and said the government “must look into why adequate precautions were not taken”.
Most of the dead are believed to have been Sri Lankans, but roughly 30 foreign citizen have been confirmed killed, including five Britons, three Indians and one Japanese citizen, and others.
The government has shut down social media and messaging services to prevent the spread of misinformation.
9SNIP0

[nitpicker]

20. From new live The Guardian thread

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/apr/22/sri-lanka-attacks-bombings-live-news

Sri Lankan government to declare nationwide emergency

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will declare a nationwide emergency from midnight on Monday following Easter Sunday suicide bomb blasts at churches and luxury hotels, his media team have confirmed.

The government has decided to gazette the clauses related to prevention of terrorism to emergency regulation and gazette it by midnight.

President Sirisena also said the island would request foreign assistance to help track international links to National Thowheeth Jama’ath, a newly formed radical islamist group in Sri Lanka who are strong proponents of the global jihadist movement.

Authorities in Sri Lanka were warned two weeks before the Easter Sunday attacks, the government has confirmed, and had the names of suspects.
(snip)

[Blue_Tires]

21. Greenwald and Scahill were unavailable for comment

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Bomb explodes in van near Sri Lanka church as officials try to defuse it

A van parked near to a church in Colombo exploded as bomb squad officials attempted to defuse a device inside it, a day after a series of blasts killed at least 290 people across Sri Lanka.

Video captured the moment the van, parked near to St Anthony’s church, burst into flames, destroying parts of the street nearby.

No injuries have been reported but witnesses said locals were not expecting the blast and were seen running from the scene in terror.

The explosion happened just a short time after 87 bomb detonators were discovered at the country’s main bus station in the capital, Colombo.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/22/bomb-explodes-van-near-sri-lanka-church-officials-try-defuse-9285303/?ito=cbshare

You can see a guy on the other side of the street right after the van explodes - lucky to not be injured.