Over 2oo people were killed in a series of coordinated explosions as Christians in Sri Lanka gathered on Easter Sunday morning for mass.
The powerful explosion ripped through three churches leaving more than 400 people injured.
Nearly all victims were Sri Lankan. Dozens of foreigners were also killed.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “several U.S. citizens” were among those killed in the South Asian island nation.
Police spokesman, Ruwan Gunasekera, said police have obtained a vehicle they suspect was used to transport the suspects into Colombo. Police also found a safe house used by the attackers.
Authorities in the country said three officers were killed hunting for the attackers at a complex and 13 suspects are currently held in connection with the bombings.
Sri Lanka’s state minister for defense said, the attacks appear to have been carried out by a single group, suicide bombers.
The blasts began around 8:45 a.m and targeted four hotels popular with tourists including the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and the Cinnamon Grand in the capital Colombo.
Also Catholic churches, St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, the capital; St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo; and Zion Church in Batticaloa were also targeted.
Sri Lanka is a religiously diverse country of about 20 million people. It contains Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
The country temporarily blocked major social media and messaging services, including Facebook and WhatsApp, to curb misinformation about the incident.