140 killed, over 400 injured as blasts hit three churches, three five-star hotels in Sri Lanka

Six near simultaneous explosions rocked three churches and three hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday morning, killing more than 140 people and injuring over 400 others, in one of the deadliest blasts in the island nation's history, officials said.

The blasts targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa around 8.45 a.m. (local time) as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Three explosions were reported from the five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury. Foreigners and locals who were injured in hotel blasts were admitted to the Colombo General Hospital.

Harsha de Silva, Sri Lanka's Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distributionm, said that there have been "many casualties including foreigners."
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe termed the blasts as "cowardly attacks" and said his government was working to "contain the situation."