20 killed in Sri Lanka churches, hotels blasts

20 killed in Sri Lanka churches, hotels blasts

Colombo, April 21, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Visitors wait outside a hotel where a blast took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 21, 2019. At least 50 people were killed and more than 100 others injured in multiple church and hotel blasts in Sri Lanka, police said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Tang Lu/IANS)

Colombo, April 21 (IANS) At least 20 people were killed and over 200 others injured in six explosions on Sunday that targeted churches and five-star hotels in Sri Lanka, media reports said.

According to the island nation's The Daily Mirror newspaper, explosions were reported as hundreds of worshipers gathered at the St. Anthony's Church in Kochchikade, Kotahena, St. Sebastian's Church in Katuwapitiya in Katana, and a third one in Batticaloa to commemorate Easter Sunday.

Blasts where also reported at the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury five-star hotels in Colombo.

The newspaper also said that there were several foreign tourists among the victims.

Images on social media showed the inside the St. Sebastian church with a shattered ceiling and blood on the pews, reports the BBC.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.

--IANS

ksk

(This story was auto-published from a syndicated feed. No part of the story has been edited by The Quint.)