FlyerTalk Forums - Easter Sunday Terror Attacks in Sri Lanka

First and foremost, my condolences go out to everyone impacted by this senseless violence. I hope no Flyertalkers who are in the country at the moment were in harms way.

There were 6 bombings (three churches & three hotels) that took place in Colombo and two other cities at approximately 9am local time on Sunday, April 21, 2019 (Easter Sunday). Current information indicates these were suicide bombings. 7 people have been arrested as of writing.

The Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo was among the hotels targeted, the Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury were the others. At the Cinnamon Grand, a suicide bomber waited in line for the Easter Sunday breakfast buffet before detonating their explosives. Of the 200+ killed in many bombings, 35 were foreign nationals. It is unknown at this time how many people died at each hotel. (Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/sri-la...d-devastation/)

Media outlets reporting that the first six explosions that occurred were suicide attacks. At Shangri-La, CCTV footage showed two men detonating C-4 explosives weighing approx. 25kg, at the restaurant and hotel corridor.

The Shangri-La Hotel released the following statement to their Facebook page:

At approximately 09:05am local time, an explosion took place in Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo’s Table One Restaurant - one of several locations in Colombo which were affected by this morning's attacks. We are deeply saddened and shocked by the incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the casualties and those who have been affected. We are working closely with local authorities and emergency services to provide our fullest assistance and support to the affected staff and guests. Our immediate priority is to look after the safety and wellbeing of all involved. A Shangri-La crisis management team has been activated to provide all necessary support. As this is an active investigation, we are unable to comment further at this stage. We will provide an update once more information is available.

For guest related enquiries please contact: +603 2025 4619
For media related enquiries please contact: +94 77 166 7973
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Foreign nationals can call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at +94112323015 to find out about loved ones who may be affected in the current situation in Sri Lanka.

Once again, I hope that none of you are currently at the hotel, and if you are, I wish that you are safe right now. I hope there is a speedy recovery on behalf of the hotel, as it is a lovely establishment run by great people (truly the best there is in Colombo), and hope that those responsible for masterminding these attacks will face justice.

Apologies in advance for any slight inaccuracies of this information. Updates are happening by the minute regarding death/injury toll and specifics about the attacks. At the time of writing, the death toll is 210 and 450+ are injured.

Further Reading:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48001720
https://www.theguardian.com/world/li...d-hotel-blasts
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.25aab270f924
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/w...explosion.html