Thirteen people were arrested and three police officers were killed during a raid on a house in Colombo Sunday, as the death toll from a series of bombings at churches and high-end hotels in Sri Lanka jumps to 290, local police said.
Amongst the victims are a number of foreigners, with some 450 people injured landed in nearby hospitals.
Further details of the raid on the house in the Sri Lankan capital were not immediately available.
The eight explosions, some of which officials said were suicide bomb attacks, led to an immediate clampdown, with the government declaring a curfew and blocking access to major social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp, Reuters reported.
[Earlier: ‘Sri Lanka Easter Bombings Claim Over 130’]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Simultaneous explosions has hit a number of churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing at least 137 people – including foreigners –and injuring more than 150 as worshipers were attending the Easter Sunday Services.
Three of the explosions took place in Catholic churches while three other explosions were reported in luxury hotels – the Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Shangri-La – located in the heart of Colombo, Aljazeera reported.
The explosions were reported almost simultaneously, saying the first hit a church located in the capital. The other blasts followed within half an hour.
Victims are landed in hospitals, while the number of casualties are still unfolding in multiple locations.
Officials have cancelled all the festivities as security “in and around the city has been tightened”.
No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
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