Sri Lanka death toll soars to 290 after Easter bomb massacre

April 22, 2019

The death toll in Sri Lanka has soared to 290 after a wave of blasts hit churches and luxury hotels across the country on Sunday.

Police said 24 people had been arrested, but it is not yet known who carried out the attacks.

About 500 people are injured and dozens of foreigners are among the dead.

The country is in shock after the Easter Sunday bombings, the deadliest violence since the end of the civil war in 2009.

Late on Sunday Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said security services had been “aware of information” of possible attacks but that the information had not been acted upon.

St Sebastian’s Church, one of the places hit in Colombo on Easter Sunday (Picture: AP)
It is the worst violence the country has seen since the end of the civil war in 2009 (Picture: AFP/Getty)
Relatives are today grieving for the almost 300 people killed (Picture: AP)
An injured Sri Lankan woman lays on a stretcher as hospital workers push her at the District General Hospital in Negombo (Picture: AFP/Getty)