Seven people were arrested and three police officers killed when security forces raided a house in Colombo hours after the blasts, some of which officials attributed to suicide bombers. Three churches in various parts of the country and four hotels in Colombo were hit. The hotels hit in Colombo were the Shangri-La, Kingsbury, Cinnamon Grand and the Tropical Inn. One of the blasts was at the St Anthony’s Shrine, a Catholic church in Kochchikade, Colombo, a tourist landmark. The government declared a curfew in Colombo and blocked access to social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp.

Source: The Telegraph April 22, 2019 00:00 UTC