Sri Lanka bombing death toll rises, three Dutch among victims

Security staff stand on guard outside the St. Anthony's Church where a blast took place Photo: CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA via HH
Security staff stand on guard outside the St. Anthony’s Church where a blast took place Photo: CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA via HH

The death toll in the Easter Sunday bombings on Sri Lanka has risen to 310, and two more Dutch nationals have been added to the casualty list, the Dutch foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

A woman of 48 and a 12-year-old girl also died in the blasts. Both are dual nationals who live abroad the ministry said. They too were at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo, where the first Dutch victim was killed.

More details emerged about her in Tuesday’s Telegraaf. The paper, which named her as Monique, said she was on the island for the opening ceremony of a children’s wing at a hospital which she and her American husband had financed.

The hospital is in the southern city of Ratnatpura, some 80 miles from Colombo. Monique and her family had lived in Bangkok for more than 10 years, the Telegraaf said.

Some 40 people have been arrested since the blasts and officials are now looking into whether a local Islamist group and chief suspect National Thowheeth Jama’ath  received ‘international support’ to carry out the attacks.

The Dutch foreign affairs ministry has sharpened its travel advice for the island, recommending that people avoid the areas where the attacks took place and obey the curfew, and warning of tight security checks at the airport.

Dutch holiday companies said there is no reason to cut short the holidays of people already on organised tours of the island. However, the ANWB decided to cancel two trips which had been set to take place in the coming days, the NRC reported.

More on the investigation

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