Six Indian nationals have been killed in the bomb blasts that ripped through three churches, three luxury hotels and a guesthouse in the Easter Sunday attacks across Sri Lanka.
Indian’s Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj confirmed the names of the Indian nationals who were among those killed in the blasts.
She tweeted: "Indian High Commission in Colombo has conveyed that National Hospital has informed them about the death of three Indian nationals. Their names are Lokashini, Narayan Chandrashekhar and Ramesh. We are ascertaining further details."
She later issued a clarification that name of the Indian national killed in the terror blast is Lakshmi and not Lokashini.
On Monday morning, she shared two more names.
On Sunday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan identified a Keralite, P S Rasina (58), among those killed in the deadly bomb blasts.
The blasts have killed 290 people and injured more than 500, including dozens of foreigners and are being labelled the deadliest to hit the country in the decade since the end of a bloody civil war that killed up to 100,000 people.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the horrific blasts in Sri Lanka.
“There is no place for such barbarism in our region. India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka,” he tweeted.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison too condemned the attacks in a statement.
“The devastating nature of this horrific attack on innocent lives simply going about their day, going to worship on the holiest of days on the Christian calendar, is just absolutely devastating,” he said.
Indian High Commission was a potential target
AFP reported that Sri Lanka's Police Chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit "prominent churches".
"A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo," the alert said.
Indian High Commission in Colombo closely monitoring the situation
The Indian High Commission in Colombo said that it was closely monitoring the situation in Sri Lanka.
"We are closely monitoring the situation. Indian citizens in need of assistance or help and for seeking clarification may call the following numbers: +94777903082 +94112422788 +94112422789," the High Commission tweeted.
"In addition to the numbers given, Indian citizens in need of assistance or help and for seeking clarification may also call the following numbers +94777902082 +94772234176," it said.
