Police officers work at the scene at St. Sebastian Catholic Church, after bomb blasts ripped through churches and luxury hotels on Easter, in Negambo, Sri Lanka April 22, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: At least 290 people were killed in a series of nine bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
Sri Lankan authorities say 39 foreign tourists died in the attacks. A look at some of the countries whose citizens were among the victims:
Sri Lanka's minister of tourism John Amaratunga says his ministry is working closely with the ministry of foreign affairs and local diplomatic missions to "ensure formalities with regard to the victims are sorted out as quickly as possible."
In Monday's statement he added, "The government has already offered assistance to all victims, the damaged places of worship as well as the hotels affected by Sunday's attacks."
He said Sri Lanka's tourism industry and the government was doing everything possible to ensure the safety of those in the country.
A total of nine bombings Sunday killed at least 290 people and wounded about 500 more.
SRI Lanka: The vast majority of the victims were believed to be Sri Lankan citizens, many of them members of the island nation's Christian minority.
UK: Sri Lanka's top diplomat in Britain says authorities know of eight British nationals killed in the bombings.
INDIA: Indian officials say five Indians died in the attacks.
DENMARK: Danish media say three of the four children of Danish business tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen were killed in the attacks.
AUSTRALIA: Australia's prime minister says two Australian citizens were killed.
CHINA: Chinese state media say two of the country's citizens died in the blasts.
OTHERS: The United States, Japan and Portugal have also confirmed their nationals were among the dead.
Sri Lankan authorities flicked the off switch on most social media after Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels killed hundreds of people.
The block on social media including Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram services was announced by the government's official news portal, which cited the spread of "false news reports" online. The NetBlocks observatory said it detected an intentional blackout of the popular platforms as well as YouTube, Snapchat and Viber. Twitter appeared unaffected.
Officials likely feared that the spread of inflammatory content could provoke more bloodshed in Sri Lanka.
Ivan Sigal, head of the internet and journalism advocacy organization Global Voices, said the country's rapid action was a "telling moment."
"A few years ago we'd be using these platforms to help each other and coordinating assistance. Now we view them as a threat," he wrote on Twitter.
"If I were Facebook and WhatsApp I'd take a moment to ask myself where I'd gone wrong," he said. "Cannot think of a clearer signal for lack of platform trust."
