Nearly 190 dead in Sri Lanka today in attacks on churches where Easter was celebrated and hotels

At least 187 people were killed, including 35 foreigners, according to AFP, and 469 were injured last Sunday in Sri Lanka, after a series of simultaneous explosions in four hotels, a residential complex and three churches, where many The faithful have celebrated one of the great Christian holidays.

The death toll is now 187, said Sri Lankan police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara, while several hospital sources carried the total number of wounded to 469. After the eight explosions, the government decreed that 39, state of emergency. and the police imposed a curfew with immediate effect in the face of fear of further attacks.

The first six explosions occurred in a coordinated manner around 8:45 am (2:30 GMT) in at least three luxury hotels in Colombo: Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Shangri-La, all five stars.

Also in a church in the capital, another in Katana, in the west of the country, and the third in Batticaloa, east of the island, said police spokesman Sri Lankan, Ruwan Gunasekara.

The seventh detonation, in which there were two deaths, was recorded hours later at a small hotel about 100 meters from the Dehiwala Zoo, a suburb ten kilometers south of downtown Colombo.

In the early afternoon, the eighth explosion occurred in the residential complex of Dematagoda, Colombo.

After the first explosions, sources consulted by AFP confirm that there are many wounded, including some in critical condition.

The same sources added that 254 people had been admitted to a Colombo hospital and that 60 wounded had been reported in two attacks. outside the capital.

According to this source, at least 64 people were reported to have died in Colombo, where three high-level hotels and one church were affected. In Negombo, north of the capital, 67 people died in a church and 25 others in another church in Batticaloa, east of the island.

Sri Lankan Catholics, like those of the rest of the world, attended Sunday Mbad, one of the highlights of the Christian religious year. All the Easter holidays have been canceled in the country, announced the archdiocese.

Please stay calm and inside the houses. There are many casualties, including strangers, "Harsha de Silva, the Sri Lankan Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, told Twitter after visiting several of the attacked sites.

De Silva said that they had summoned an emergency meeting and that they had been shocked by what he had seen.

"Horrible scenes, I've seen amputees spread all over the place, the emergency teams are deployed at every point. (…) We took many victims to hospital, we hope to have saved many lives, "said the minister.

All schools in the country will be closed Monday and Tuesday, as confirmed by the Ministry of Education.

Images broadcast by local media show the magnitude of the explosion in at least one of the churches. The roof of the temple is half-destroyed, the rubble and bodies scattered as people try to help them.

The faithful today celebrated the Sunday of the resurrection, the most important day of the rites of Holy Week.

Attacks on religious minorities on the island have been repeated in the past, the latest having occurred in 2018, when the government had to declare the state of emergency after clashes between Muslims and Buddhists Sinhala, causing two deaths and dozens of detainees. .

In Sri Lanka, the Christian population accounts for 7%, Buddhists 70%, Hindus 15% and Muslims 11%. Source The Vanguardia.