Colombo (TAN): Co-ordinated explosions at three hotels and three churches in and around the Sri Lankan capital on Sunday morning have left at least 138 dead, Colombo National Hospital director Anil Jasinghe said.
A number of foreign tourists are among the dead. Nearly 400 people have been injured.
Reports said the explosions took place at three five star hotels in Colombo. These are Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Shangri-La hotel, Colombo and The Kingsbury, Colombo.
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“It is with deep regret that we wish to inform that an explosion occurred in a restaurant located on the ground floor of the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, earlier today. Medical evacuation was activated immediately for the injured,” the hotel posted on Facebook.
The affected churches are located in Kochchikade, Katana, and Batticaloa areas.
National Hospital director Dr Anil Jasinghe said at least 49 people had been killed in Colombo, 62 in Negombo, and 27 in Batticaloa.
Recently, Sri Lanka had announced to offer free visas to citizens of more than 30 countries, including the US, UK, European Union and Thailand in an effort to attract tourists during the low Yala monsoon season.
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“We will start granting a free visa period for six months from 1 May 2019 for some selected countries during our off-peak period,” The Independent had quoted the country’s tourism minister John Amaratunga as saying. “In the next phase of this programme, we plan to set up a permanent system at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to issue visas on arrival, as is the practice in many countries.”
Today’s attack is almost certain to have an adverse impact on the country’s tourism industry in the next months. The island nation saw 2.1 million tourists in 2017. The government reportedly wants to double the number this year.
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