Sri Lanka commemorates first anniversary of Easter Sunday bombings
9722 Mins Read
Church bells have rung out across Sri Lanka, marking one year since 269 people were killed by a group of suicide bombers.
Nine suicide bombers detonated their devices in six locations around the country on Easter Sunday last year.
Reports of the explosions first came in at about 08:45 (03:15 GMT) on 21 April.
Three blasts were at churches: in the Kochchikade district of Colombo; in Negombo, to the north of the capital; and in the eastern city of Batticaloa. The churches were packed with worshippers celebrating Easter.
The other three blasts were at three luxury hotels in the capital – the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand.
But there are no other large-scale events planned to remember the men, women and children – from worshippers celebrating Easter in church to tourists enjoying breakfast in hotel restaurants – whose lives were ended 12 months ago.
Sri Lanka has been observing a curfew since March, as it tries to contain the spread of coronavirus, which has so far killed seven on the island nation.
But the day is not going unnoticed – not least for those whose lives were changed forever by the violence.
A private ceremony was held on Tuesday for survivors. All other public ceremonies were cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. There had been plans to unveil two monuments to those killed, and to hold a number of church services.
Two minutes of silence were observed countrywide at 08:45 (03:15 GMT), marking the time of the first report of the six blasts which went off in quick succession. The country’s television stations also went silent in tribute on Tuesday.
In an anniversary message, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said that while the church has “spiritually forgiven” the attackers, their supporters should still be brought to justice.
