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Blasts hit three Sri Lanka churches, at least 80 injured

"A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there," read a post in English on the Facebook page of the St Sebastian's Church at Katuwapitiya in Negombo.

 
Sun, April 21, 2019

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Blasts hit three Sri Lanka churches, at least 80 injured Only around six percent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka is Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups. (TJP/File)

Explosions have hit three churches and three hotels in and around the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, police said Sunday.

The blasts hit several high-end hotels and one church in the capital, while two additional churches were targeted outside Colombo, police said.

There were initial reports of at least 80 people injured in the capital.

"Eighty people have already been admitted, and more are still coming in," an official at the Colombo National Hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Police said the blasts hit churches in the north of the capital and in the town of Negombo, just outside Colombo.

The nature of the explosions was not immediately clear.

"A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there," read a post in English on the Facebook page of the St Sebastian's Church at Katuwapitiya in Negombo.

Only around six percent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka is Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups.

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