Another Blast Reported Near Church In Sri Lanka

The bomb exploded at a church in the Kochchikade district of Sri Lanka's Colombo

Colombo (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 22nd April, 2019) Another explosion took place in Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

The bomb exploded at a church in the Kochchikade district of Sri Lanka's Colombo, media report said.

According to a Sri Lankan news portal, it was yet to be determined whether the blast went off due to detonating or defusing.

The death toll in Sri Lanka has soared to 290 after a wave of blasts hit churches and luxury hotels across the country on Sunday.

Police said 24 people had been arrested, but it is not yet known who carried out the attacks.

About 500 people are injured and at least 35 foreigners are among the dead.

The Easter Sunday bombings were the deadliest violence Sri Lanka has witnessed since the end of the country's civil war in 2009.

Late on Sunday, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said security services had been "aware of information" of possible attacks but that the information had not been acted upon.

A curfew hasbe imposed in Sri Lanka following the blasts.

The first reports of explosions came at about 08:45 local time with six blasts reported within a small space of time. Three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo's Kochchikade district were targeted during Easter services. Blasts also rocked the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in the country's capital.

All the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, reports said.

Police then carried out raids on two addresses and there were explosions at both. One was in Dehiwala, southern Colombo, and the other was near the Colombo district of Dematagoda in which three officers were killed.