Three Indians killed in Sri Lanka, narrow escape for others (2nd Lead)

Three Indians are among those killed in the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said. Many others, including a leading Tamil actress, had a narrow escape.

The Minister quoted the Indian High Commission as saying that it had been informed by the National Hospital in Colombo about the death of three Indian nationals: Lokashini, Narayan Chandrashekhar and Ramesh.

"We are ascertaining further details," the Minister said.

Earlier reports from Kerala said that a woman from the state who was holidaying in Colombo with her husband was killed in the terror attack.

Noted Indian Tamil actress Radikaa Sarathkumar had left one of the three hotels in the Sri Lankan capital just before it was bombed.

Radikaa tweeted that she was staying at the Cinnamon Grand, located near the official residence of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister.

"OMG bomb blasts in SL, God be with all. I just left Cinnamon Grand hotel and it has been bombed. Can't believe this. Shocking," she tweeted.

Five persons from Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district had a narrow escape in the serial bomb blasts.

Amilineni Surendra Babu, who heads SR Construction firm, sustained minor injuries while his friends escaped unhurt when a bomb went off at Shangri La Hotel in Colombo, where they were staying.

The group, which was on a tour to Sri Lanka, was having breakfast at the hotel when a bomb ripped through the premises.

In the stampede that followed, Surendra Babu sustained minor injuries. The group later moved to a safer place. Some pictures of the injured were posted on the social media.

However, their passport and other documents remained with their luggage in their hotel rooms. A police officer in Anantapur district said they did not succeed in contacting the businessmen as the communication network in the island nation was down after the serial blasts.

--IANS

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