Multiple bombs explode in Colombo [April 21]

[defurax]

There are reports of bombs exploding at the Shangri La and Cinnamon hotels in addition to at least two churches. Hopefully no AFFers hurt considering these hotels are quite popular with tourists.

Brit dad forced to choose which of his dying kids to save in Sri Lanka

A BRITISH dad was forced to make a heartbreaking decision to choose one of his two dying teenage children to rescue following a suicide terror attack in Sri Lanka. Daniel, 19, and Amelie Linsey, 15…

www.thesun.ie

 

[defurax]

It's getting worst, now at least 20 dead and 160 injured.

Toll in Sri Lanka blasts rises to 207, including 35 foreigners

The toll in a string of blasts on Sunday at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka has risen to at least 207, including 35 foreigners, a police official told AFP

english.alarabiya.net

 

[Pushka]

Just read this on the news website. Just doesn’t make sense. Not that any of it ever does. Wonder if NZ tragedy had anything to do with it.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just read this on the news website. Just doesn’t make sense. Not that any of it ever does. Wonder if NZ tragedy had anything to do with it.

The type of people who do this sort of thing don't need a reason ...

 

[drron]

Latest is 138 dead and over 400 injured.
First reports are that probably carried out by NJT a radical islamist group.A Police official said foreign intelligence had warned them they were planning suicide bombings.

 

[drron]

Sri Lanka explosions: At least 207 killed, hundreds injured; 8 suspects arrested

Sri Lanka’s defence ministry has also ordered a 12-hour curfew, which will begin on Sunday night at 8.30pm Singapore time. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

"
Sri Lanka’s police chief made a nationwide alert 10 days before Sunday’s bomb attacks that suicide bombers planned to hit “prominent churches”, according to the warning seen by AFP.
Police chief Pujuth Jayasundara sent an intelligence warning to top officers on April 11 setting out the threat.
“A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,” said the alert."

 

[pjm99au]

We’re in Sri Lanka at the moment in Kandy. Complete island wide curfew in place until 6am tomorrow. I want to send our driver home to be with his wife in Negombo but the roads are officially closed. She was at church this morning but thankfully not one of those bombed as she went to a smaller church with him being away. Terrible thing to happen to a very peaceful people.

 

[drron]

Death toll now 163 with 8 bombs now detonated.

 

[pauly7]

Just stayed at that Shangri-La and from the photos it looks like they attacked the restaurant where you eat breakfast/lunch.
Awful

 

[33kft]

Death toll now 207 with 400 injured, according to the BBC. How those can feel such hatred to those they do not even know escapes me.

 

[amaroo]

Very sad.

Another country we were wanting to visit now on the no go list.

 

[RooFlyer]

Very sad.

Another country we were wanting to visit now on the no go list.

Understand if traveling with your kids, but recall the awful things in Paris previously. Id go back to SL in an instant.

 

[Pushka]

Understand if traveling with your kids, but recall the awful things in Paris previously. Id go back to SL in an instant?

And we travelled to SL in 1985 in the midst of their Tamil issues. Compelling reason though.

I’m wondering if you didn’t travel to those places where there has been a terrorist attack if you’d find any place left to travel to.

 

[33kft]

I’m wondering if you didn’t travel to those places where there has been a terrorist attack if you’d find any place left to travel to.

Australia would be out, several times over, if we were applying this on a country basis.

 

[pjm99au]

Very sad.

Another country we were wanting to visit now on the no go list.

I understand your thoughts but when we don’t visit the coughs win and the ordinary people of Sri Lanka suffer. After tea, tourism is their biggest source of income. Everything else is a very distant third. It’s a country that has so much to offer the visitor it would be a massive shame if these events put it on the do not visit list

 

[love_the_life]

Very sad to read. I wondered if the Galle Face Hotel had been targeted but not at this time. Pushka and I had lunch there and I know she stayed there not too long ago. I remember seeing the Kingsbury Hotel.
I haven’t been able to keep up but has any group claimed responsibility?

 

[henleybeach]

Very sad too see , a beautiful scenic country with such happy kind hearted people. We had such a wonderful time there in 2014 and I feel for the locals as tourism is so important to them. I just hope people don’t stop going

 

[amaroo]

Paris - took our kids there 2 months after the horrendous acts in 2015.

It just makes perfect sense to avoid countries that have a long history of civil war, killings and hatred for humans other than what they see in the mirror.. That's the reason we've never visited many places around the world including ones closer to home like Indonesia and PNG.... Sri Lanka was just about to get on our must visit list, but now it's back on the no visit list.

It's a very sad situation, and plenty of innocents have been caught up in a horrific tragedy. We all have our different triggers to avoiding a country - this one has reignited mine. No different to Indo and Bali, plenty of people are happy to travel - last place I want to visit.

 

[Milboo]

Just stayed at that Shangri-La and from the photos it looks like they attacked the restaurant where you eat breakfast/lunch.
Awful

Really awful.

I was thinking the same about the Cinnamon Grand where we stayed.

 

[Hvr]

We’re in Sri Lanka at the moment in Kandy.

This image from ABC.net.au shows Kandy in relation to the bomb sites. Kandy is approximately 100km from Colombo. I can only imagine the palpable fear that people in Sri Lanka must be feeling at this time.

Stay safe @pjm99au and good on you for thinking of your driver and his family.