188 killed, around 500 injured as blasts hit churches, five-star hotels on Easter in Sri Lanka

Suicide bombers were involved in at least two of the eight attacks that struck three churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing 188 people and injuring around 500 others, shattering a decade of peace in the island nation after the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE.

The blasts - one of the deadliest in the island nation's history - targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and a 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.

Explosions were reported from three five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury in Colombo Sunday morning.

According to officials, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the restaurant of the Cinnamon Grand hotel.

Harsha de Silva, Sri Lanka's Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, 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."