'Toll in Sri Lanka blasts rises to 310'

As many as 40 people were now under arrest in connection with the attacks

COLOMBO: The toll from a string of deadly suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka has risen to 310, with several people dying of their injuries overnight, a police spokesperson said Tuesday.

Around 500 people were wounded in the blasts, Ruwan Gunasekera said in a statement.

He added that 40 people were now under arrest in connection with the attacks, which Sri Lanka's government has blamed on a previously little-known local militant group, National Thowheeth Jama'ath.

Sri Lanka began a day of national mourning Tuesday with three minutes of silence to honour more than 300 people killed in suicide bomb blasts that have been blamed on a local group.

Flags were lowered to half mast on government buildings, and people bowed their heads and reflected silently on the violence that has caused international outrage.

The silence began at 8:30 am (0300 GMT), the time that the first of six bombs detonated on Sunday morning, unleashing carnage at high-end hotels and churches packed with Easter worshippers.



The first memorial services for the victims, among them dozens of foreigners, were planned for Tuesday, hours after the government imposed a state of emergency and said a local group was behind the violence.

At St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo — where scores died as they gathered for Easter Sunday prayers — a crowd of a few dozen people held candles and prayed silently, palms pressed together.

Some of them struggled to hold back tears and as the three minutes drew to a close, the crowd began to chant prayers.