Mass funeral held for Sri Lanka blasts victims

Flags were lowered to half mast and people bowed their heads in silence in respect to the victims as well as the 500 people injured in the attacks, BBC said.

Relatives mourn beside a coffin of a bomb blast victim during a funeral service at St Sebastian's Church in Negombo on April 23, 2019, two days after a series of bomb attacks targeting churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. - Sri Lanka began a day of national mourning on April 23 with three minutes of silence to honour nearly 300 people killed in suicide bomb blasts that have been blamed on a local Islamist group. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP)

Colombo: The first mass funeral was held in Sri Lanka on Tuesday as the country marks a day of mourning for the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings that killed 310 people. The mass funeral was held at the St Sebastian's church in Negombo, north of Colombo, which was one of the places targeted in Sunday's blasts, reports the BBC. Earlier, a moment of silence was observed at 8.30 a.m., reflecting the time the first of six bombs detonated. Flags were lowered to half mast and people bowed their heads in silence in respect to the victims as well as the 500 people injured in the attacks, BBC said. ALSO READ: Islamic State claims responsibility for Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka: reports The funeral comes amid a state of emergency which was imposed on Monday. The police have so far detained 40 suspects in connection with the attacks, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The government has blamed a local Islamist group for the carnage. The Foreign Ministry said it had identified 31 foreign nationals among the dead, including 10 Indians, while 14 others remained unaccounted for.