New blast in Sri Lankan capital: police spokesman

Colombo: A fresh blast hit a hotel in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on Sunday, killing at least two people, a police spokesman said, after a string of explosions at churches and hotels.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the blast hit a hotel in the southern Colombo suburb of Dehiwala. It was the seventh attack to hit the country on Sunday, with police saying more than 150 people have been killed.

The latest explosion to be reported was at a hotel near the national zoo, which is in an area near the capital Colombo.

"There was an explosion in a hotel in Dehiwela near the zoo," a police official told Reuters adding that there were no further details available.

An eyewitness on local TV said he saw some body parts including a severed head lying on the ground near the hotel.
Zoo officials declared the zoo closed after the blast.

The Latest on explosions in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday (all times local colombo time):

2:30 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced a series of attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka as "cruel and cynical."
In a telegram of condolences sent to his Sri Lankan counterpart, the Russian leader said Moscow remains a "reliable partner of

Sri Lanka in the fight against international terrorism."

He added that the Russians "share the grief of the relatives of those killed and wish a quick recovery to all those who were wounded" after the Easter Sunday blasts that killed at least 138 people.

Putin voiced confidence that "the perpetrators and the masterminds of such a cruel and cynical crime committed amid the Easter festivities will take the punishment they deserve."
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2:25 p.m.
The Archbishop of Colombo is calling for those responsible for the Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka to be punished "mercilessly."

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith called on Sri Lanka's government to launch a "very impartial strong inquiry" and to punish those found responsible "mercilessly because only animals can behave like that."

The series of blasts at three churches and three luxury hotels killed at least 138 people. It's the worst spout of violence in Sri Lanka since the South Asian country's bloody civil war ended a decade ago.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was meeting top military officials and tweeted earlier Sunday that "the government is taking immediate steps to contain the situation."
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2:10 p.m.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, calling them "an assault on all of humanity."

In comments posted on Twitter, Erdogan offered his condolences to families of the victims and to the people of Sri Lanka.
The near simultaneous attacks against three churches and three luxury hotels killed at least 138 people, according to a security official. It was the worst violence in the South Asian country since its civil war ended a decade ago.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "Regardless of the motive, the attack in Sri Lanka is the same as the traitorous attack in Christchurch: cowardly, barbaric and cruel."

He was referring to last month's attacks against two mosques in New Zealand during Friday prayers that killed 50 people.
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1:50 p.m.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has convened Sri Lanka's top military officials at an emergency meeting of the National Security Council following a series of Easter Sunday blasts.

A senior official says at least 138 people died in the blasts at three churches and three luxury hotels. Hundreds of others have been hospitalized. The violence is the worst since Sri Lanka's bloody civil war ended a decade ago.

The official says at least two of the blasts were suspected to have been caused by suicide bombers.

Earlier, Wickremesinghe tweeted that "the government is taking immediate steps to contain the situation."