Easter eggs: Symbolism, legends and traditions
The concept of the hollow chocolate Easter egg seamlessly embodies the symbolism of Easter.
Two days after the disastrous serial bomb blasts targeting churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, the death toll has risen to 310, with several people dying of their injuries overnight, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
Ten Indians are confirmed to have been killed in the attacks including six JD(S) workers.
“Regret to confirm the deaths of two more Indian nationals Mr A Maregowda and Mr H Puttaraju in the blasts in Sri Lanka on Sunday, taking the total number of Indian deaths in the tragedy to 10 as of now,” Sushma Swaraj tweeted.
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Around 500 people were wounded in the blasts, Ruwan Gunasekera said in a statement.
He added that 40 people were now under arrest in connection with the attacks, which Sri Lanka’s government has blamed on a previously little-known local Islamist group, National Thowheeth Jama’ath.
Earlier on Monday, the Sri Lankan government said that it suspected a local Islamist extremist group called National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) to be behind the deadly suicide bomb blasts.
Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne, who is also a cabinet minister, added that the government was investigating whether the group had “international support.”
Documents seen by AFP show Sri Lanka’s police chief issued a warning on April 11, saying that a “foreign intelligence agency” had reported NTJ was planning attacks on churches and the Indian High Commission.
The blasts targeted St Anthony’s Church in Colombo, St Sebastian’s Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and Zion Church in the eastern town of Batticaloa around 8.45 am (local time) as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress.
Explosions were also reported from three five-star hotels — the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury in Colombo.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday announced a nationwide emergency from midnight following the Easter Sunday blasts.
The President also appointed a committee to probe the blasts that killed 290 people in a terror attack which was the worst since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War 10 years ago.
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