Thirty-five foreigners including Brits, Americans and Dutch die in Sri Lanka blasts

Britons and Americans are among 35 foreigners killed in Sri Lanka blasts in fresh blow to island nation’s $3.2billion tourist industry

  • The Easter Sunday blasts targeted three Colombo hotels popular with foreigners
  • St Anthony’s Shrine, a popular tourist site in Colombo, was also hit in the blasts
  • Sri Lanka has tried to rebrand itself as a tourist destination since end of civil war 

At least 35 foreigners have died in the Easter Sunday bombings which targeted churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. 

Citizens of Britain, the United States and the Netherlands are believed to be among the 156 dead with Japanese nationals also said to be injured. 

St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, the scene of one of the blasts, is a popular tourist site in the island nation’s largest city.

The three hotels – the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury – are also frequented by foreign visitors and hotel guests were among the dead today. 

Ambulances and emergency workers outside St Anthony’s Shrine (pictured) in Colombo today where one of the Easter Sunday blasts went off 

Other blasts were reported at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, a majority-Catholic town, and at Zion Church in the eastern town of Batticalo. 

Millions of tourists visit Sri Lanka every year but political crisis and religious tension have placed the industry under threat in recent months.  

More than 2.4 million foreign holidaymakers visited the Asian country in 2017, spending some $3.2billion.  

The industry emerged as a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s economy as the country sought to rebrand itself after the end of a 26-year civil war in 2009. 

But in November, deluxe hotels reported cancellations and a decline in bookings as two prime ministers battled for power amid fears of a ‘bloodbath’. 

Last March a spate of anti-Muslim riots also damaged the island’s reputation as a tourist destination with beaches and historic buildings. 

Three people died and dozens of Muslim establishments were left in ruins in Kandy, a picturesque hill district famed for its tea plantations and Buddhist icons.

Holidaymakers were urged to avoid the hill resort, which is also home to Sri Lanka’s holiest Buddhist shrine, the Temple of the Tooth Relic. 

Police at the scene of one of the blasts in Sri Lanka in which scores of people including Britons, Americans and Dutch nationals are believed to have been killed

Police at the scene of one of the blasts in Sri Lanka in which scores of people including Britons, Americans and Dutch nationals are believed to have been killed 

The country remains deeply scarred by its 1983-2009 civil war, when Tamil rebels fought to create an independent homeland. 

Sri Lanka has long been divided between the majority Sinhalese, who are overwhelmingly Buddhist, and minority Tamils who are Hindu, Muslim and Christian. 

A Christian group said there had been 86 cases of discrimination, threats and violence against followers of Jesus last year, with another 26 so far this year. 

The U.S. State Department warned in a 2018 report that Christians had been pressured to close places of worship after they were deemed ‘unauthorised gatherings’.

The report also said Buddhist monks regularly tried to close down Christian and Muslim places of worship.   

There have also been attacks on Muslims, with the government forced to declare a state of emergency amid a spate of anti-Muslim rioting. 

Hard-line Buddhist groups accuse Muslims of forcing people to convert and destroying sacred Buddhist sites. 

One radical Muslim group, the NTJ, has been linked to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues and has also reportedly plotted to attack Christian churches.  

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