Colombo: Multiple explosions rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday as attacks on churches and hotels left at least 207 dead including as many as 30 foreigners in the worst violence since a civil war ended a decade ago.
The government imposed an island-wide curfew as security forces try to maintain law and order and investigate the attacks.
Those responsible for the blasts have been identified and seven people have been arrested so far, Sri Lanka's Information Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said, without providing details. Access to social media platforms including Facebook and Whatsapp has been restricted.
No one has claimed responsibility for the eight coordinated explosions that took place on Sunday at 8.45am local time mainly in the capital Colombo, and separate blasts later in the day.
At least 450 people were injured, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. Foreigners were among those reported dead after explosions at luxury hotels such as the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand.
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday there was no report of Thais in Sri Lanka affected by the incident.
However, the Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo warned Thais in Sri Lanka to avoid crowded areas. In case of emergencies, the embassy can be contacted on +94773070748.
Thai police chief Chakthip Chaijinda has ordered officers to closely monitor the incidents in Sri Lanka as well as search for intelligence. He also wants watch kept on important or sensitive places such as the Sri Lankan Embassy, churches and crowded areas, Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said.
A Cinnamon Grand hotel manager, who asked not to be named, told AFP that a suicide bomber waited patiently in a queue for the Easter Sunday breakfast buffet at Cinnamon Grand hotel before setting off explosives strapped to his back.
Hotel officials told how the bomber, a Sri Lankan, checked in giving an address that turned out to be false, saying he was in the city for business.
Two other hotels, the Shangri-La and the Kingsbury, were hit about the same time, along with three churches packed with worshippers attending Easter Sunday services.
The blast at St Anthony's Shrine, a historic Catholic Church, was so powerful that it blew out much of the roof, leaving roof tiles, glass and splintered wood littering the floor that was strewn with bodies.
Sri Lanka had previously received warnings of possible church attacks, but not on hotels, Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando said on Sunday, noting some of the explosions were suicide bombings.
The attacks mark a return of violence to the country of 21 million people that's still in rehabilitation following a brutal 26-year civil war that ended in 2009 with at least 100,000 killed.
Ethnic and religious divisions have plagued the island nation for decades, and there was a bitter political standoff late last year between the president and the prime minister.
The blasts at churches took place during Easter Sunday mass, in a country where large-scale attacks on Catholics and Christians have been rare.
All Easter masses scheduled for the evening have been cancelled, the Catholic archdiocese in Colombo said, while schools that were scheduled to reopen for the new term on Monday will remain closed until Wednesday, the Education Ministry announced.
Catholics, split between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority, make up 6.5% of Sri Lanka's population, according to the nation's 2012 census.
More than 70% of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, 12% are Hindu and 10% are Muslim, the census shows.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government is taking immediate steps to contain the situation.
In a televised appearance, he warned of an impact to the economy and investment flows.
"You will find a downward trend in the economy," he said. "Tourism will be affected. There may be fund outflows."
An emergency security council meeting had been called to review the attacks that seem to be coordinated, Harsha de Silva, minister of economic reform and public distribution, said by phone. "Rescue operations underway," de Silva said on Twitter.
"Many casualties including foreigners. Horrible scenes."
The bombings in Sri Lanka come after a sustained period of political uncertainty following the president's decision to fire his prime minister, said Manoj Joshi, a distinguished journalist and fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think-tank.
"Sri Lanka is just about recovering from a civil war and so obviously this is not a good sign," Joshi said.