Death toll Sri Lanka surge

The death toll in the coordinated bomb attacks in #SriLanka has risen upwards to 290, a drastic increase from 207 reported previously, with the number of the wounded people at almost 500 now, toll to mount to big leap of nearly 150 to 200 experts said early Monday morning.

Few hours earlier, it was reported that 207 people were killed and almost 450 injured in Sri Lanka when a string of blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches as worshippers attended Easter services. 

The powerful blasts — six in quick succession and then two more hours later — wrought devastation, including at the capital’s well-known St Anthony’s Shrine, a historic Catholic Church.

An improvised pipe bomb discovered close to Colombo’s main airport was successfully defused by the Sri Lanka airforce, police said.

A police source told AFP that a “homemade” pipe bomb had been found late Sunday on a road leading towards the main terminal, which remains open with heavy security after Easter Sunday’s deadly bomb attacks.

“It was a homemade bomb, with explosives put into a pipe,” said the source.

Airforce spokesperson Group Captain Gihan Seneviratne said the IED was believed to be locally manufactured.

The discovery comes after a series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services, killing at least 207 people, including dozens of foreigners.

Sri Lanka authorities said many arrests has been made after series of eight bomb blasts which injured and killed in hundreds while celebrating Easter in churches and hotels.