Terror in Sri Lanka

A series of bombs ripped through churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing at least 290 people and injuring hundreds. Several of those bombs went off inside churches, during Easter services in three cities.
Sri Lanka’s minority Christian community, which accounts for less than 10% of the country’s total population of 21.4 million, appeared to be the main target of the coordinated attacks.
Though it wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the eight explosions that paralyzed the country, Manisha Gunasekera, high commissioner of Sri Lanka to the UK, said the blasts are “certainly acts of terror.” Ten days before the attack, an intelligence memo warning of a possible attack had been circulated, raising questions about whether more could have been done to prevent the attack. An island-wide curfew was implemented until the following morning.
Here’s what we know about each location attacked on Sunday.

People who live near one of the churches attacked on Sunday take cover as military personnel work to defuse a suspected vehicle nearby on Monday. Dinuka Liyanawatte/ReutersA woman runs for cover near St. Anthony’s shrine on Monday. Eranga Jayawardena/APA police officer inspects the scene at Shangri-La hotel. Dinuka Liyanawatte/ReutersSecurity forces inspect the scene after a blast targeting Cinnamon Grand hotel. Chamila Karunarathne/Anadolu/Getty ImagesThe Kingsbury Hotel was targeted Sunday by a suicide bomber. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty ImagesPolice patrol outside the Kingsbury hotel. Xinhua/Sipa USA

Shoes and belongings of victims are collected as evidence at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo on Monday. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty ImagesA woman looks into a container where bodies of victims are kept at a hospital in Negombo on Monday. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty ImagesSri Lankan soldiers inspect the damage inside St. Sebastian’s Church. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty ImagesOfficials inspect St. Sebastian’s Church. Getty ImagesSri Lankan security stands guard outside St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo. Stringer/Getty Images

Security personnel and investigators look through debris outside Zion Church. Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesSecurity personnel walk past debris outside Zion Church. Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesSri Lankan hospital workers and Army soldiers stand at the door to a morgue following a blast in a church in Batticaloa. Lakruwan Wanniarachichi/Getty Images

A view of blast site near the Dehiwala zoo, near Colombo, Sri Lanka. Akila Jayawardana/NurPhoto/Zuma Press

Armed police arrive on motorbikes after a blast in the Colombo suburb of Dematagoda. M.A. Pushpa Kumara/EPA

Produced by Bernadette Tuazon, Sean O’Key and Darran Simon. Cody McCloy, Natalie Yubas, Henrik Pettersson, Ignacio Osorio and Padraic Driscoll contributed to this report.
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