Sri Lanka orders curfew with immediate effect

Sri Lankan government on Sunday imposed curfew with immediate effect after the island nation was rocked with eight blasts targeting churches and hotels that killed nearly 160 people across the country. The blasts targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa around 8.45 a.m. (local time) as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress.

Three explosions were reported from the five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury. Foreigners and locals who were injured in hotel blasts were admitted to the Colombo General Hospital. The seventh blast occurred at a hotel near the Colombo Zoo and the eighth explosion was reported from housing complex.

The curfew has been imposed with immediate effect, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. The curfew will be in force indefinitely until further notice. The original announcement said the curfew will begin on Sunday night at 6:00 pm (local time) and run until 6:00 am (local time).

Meanwhile, security has been intensified around the religious places across the capital. The government has decided to block all social media platforms in order to prevent incorrect and wrong information being spread. This is only a temporary measure", a release from Udaya R Seneviratne, Secretary to the President said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did not reveal the initial details of the investigation into the blast and said police will update later. "The police will update you on this after investigations", he told reporters when asked. "The police and the security forces have been instructed to bring culprits to book.

On the economic impact of the attacks, he said, "There will be a downward trend, tourism will get affected. There may be fund outflows." PTI CORR AMS AMS