Mourners attended a funeral near St Sebastian Church in Negombo
Sri Lanka has held its first mass funeral as the country marks a day of mourning for the victims of Sunday’s bomb blasts.
The death toll from the attacks on churches and hotels has risen to 310 with about 500 wounded, police said.
The country has observed three minutes of silence and a state of emergency is in effect to prevent further attacks.
Sri Lanka’s government has blamed the blasts on local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ).
Police have now detained 40 suspects in connection with the attack. A spokesman said they included a Syrian who was arrested “after the interrogation of local suspects”.
Meanwhile, defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told parliament on Tuesday that “preliminary investigations” indicated the bombings were in retaliation for deadly attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March. He did not give any details.
Mr Wijewardene also said NTJ was linked to another radical Islamist group he named as JMI, but again he provided no further information.
The mass funeral for about 30 victims took place at St Sebastian church in Negombo, north of Colombo, which was one of the places targeted in Sunday’s blasts. Another funeral service was scheduled for later on Tuesday.
Earlier, a moment of silence was observed at 08:30, reflecting the time the first of six bombs detonated. Flags were lowered to half-mast and people, many of them in tears, bowed their heads in respect.
The state of emergency gives police and the military sweeping powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders – powers that were last used during the nation’s civil war.
The government limited access to Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram after the blasts.
NTJ, the group named by the government as the main suspect, has no history of large-scale attacks but came to prominence last year when it was blamed for damaging Buddhist statues.
However, neither NTJ nor any other group has admitted carrying out Sunday’s bombings. (BBC)
