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Devastating aftermath of Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday attacks

Easter Sunday bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites in Sri Lanka became one of Asia's deadliest terrorist attacks in years

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Sri Lankan Army soldiers securing the area around St. Anthony Shrine after a blast in Colombo, Sri Lanka

© AP Photo/Chamila Karunarathne

On April 21, the heaviest in the country series of terror attacks occurred in Sri Lanka, in which 290 people were killed, including 30 foreigners

© AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena

A view of St. Sebastian's Church damaged in blast in Negombo, north of Colombo

© AP Photo/Chamila Karunarathne

Locals and police gathering at the Secon church Batticalova central road in Colombo

© EPA-EFE/STRINGER

Sri Lankan security forces officers securing a site believed to be a hide out of the militants following a shoot out in Colombo

© AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena

Sri Lankan Security personal passing the damaged Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo

© EPA-EFE/M.A. PUSHPA KUMARA

A police officer standing guard in Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian church in Negombo near Colombo

Sri Lankan elderly woman is helped near St. Anthony's Shrine after a blast in Colombo

© AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena

Police and security personnel standing gaurd after an explosion hit Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo

© EPA-EFE/M.A. PUSHPA KUMARA

Relatives weeping near the coffin with the remains of 12-year Sneha Savindi, who was a victim of Easter Sunday bombing at St. Sebastian Church

© AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

On April 21, the heaviest in the country series of terror attacks occurred in Sri Lanka, in which 290 people were killed, including 30 foreigners. Eight explosions shook the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa, in particular Catholic churches during Easter services and hotels. The first explosion went off in the St. Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade in Colombo, the second - in the St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, 30 km north of Colombo, the third bomb was detonated in a church in the town of Batticaloa in the east of the country. Apart from that, around the same time the explosions hit the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels in the Sri Lankan capital. The seventh blast happened in the Colombo zoo, while the eighth bomb exploded in the Dematagoda, a suburb in Colombo.

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