Blasts hit churches, hotels across Sri Lanka; Over 200 killed, 500 injured

Agencies
April 21, 2019

Colombo, Apr 21: At least nine foreigners were among over 200 people killed in six near simultaneous and coordinated explosions that rocked three churches and three luxury hotels frequented by tourists in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, in one of the deadliest blasts in the country's history, officials said.

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, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Three explosions were reported from the five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury in Colombo. Foreigners and locals who were injured in hotel blasts were admitted to the Colombo General Hospital.

Harsha de Silva, Sri Lanka's Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, said that there have been "many casualties including foreigners."

"45 people died in Colombo where three hotels and a church were hit, while more than 90 were killed in Negombo and 27 in Batticaloa," hospital sources said, adding that more than 450 people were injured in the blasts.

Among the 45 bodies at the Colombo National Hospital there are nine foreigners, they said, adding that Americans and British citizens were among the dead.

The Colombo National Hospital spokesperson, Dr Samindi Samarakoon, said more than 300 people have been admitted with injuries.

Dr Kalanidhi Ganeshalingam, the spokesperson for the Batticaloa hospital, said over 100 have been admitted with injuries from St Michael's Church explosion.

No group has claimed responsibility for Sunday's attacks.

However, most of the deadly attacks in the past in Sri Lanka were carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which ran a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army killed its supreme leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

President Maithripala Sirisena has appealed for calm.

"I have been shocked by this totally unexpected incidents. The security forces haven been asked to take all action necessary," Sirisena said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe termed the blasts as "cowardly attacks" and said his government was working to "contain the situation."

"I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong... The government is taking immediate steps to contain this situation," he tweeted.

The Sri Lankan government has summoned an emergency meeting. All necessary emergency steps have been taken by the government, Harsha de Silva said.

"Horrible scenes. I saw many body parts strewn all over. Emergency crews are at all locations in full force. We, at 1990 also have close to 20 units at various locations. We took multiple casualties to hospital. Hopefully saved many lives," he said.

The Indian High Commission in Colombo said that it was closely monitoring the situation in Sri Lanka.

"We are closely monitoring the situation. Indian citizens in need of assistance or help and for seeking clarification may call the following numbers: +94777903082 +94112422788 +94112422789," the High Commission tweeted.

"In addition to the numbers given, Indian citizens in need of assistance or help and for seeking clarification may also call the following numbers +94777902082 +94772234176," it said.

The first blasts were reported at St Anthony's church in Colombo and St Sebastian's Church in Negombo just outside the capital.

"A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there," read a post in English on the Facebook page of the St Sebastian's Church.

The blasts were followed by explosions at three hotels in Colombo and the church in Batticaloa.

Images circulated on social media and TV channels showed severely damaged St Sebastian's church building, with a shattered ceiling and blood on the pews.

Heavy security has been deployed at the Bandaranaike International Airport after the multiple explosions in the country. The riot police and the Special Task Force, extra police security has been deployed around the airport, state-run Daily Times reported.

Leave of all police personnel has been cancelled in the wake of blasts.

Doctors, nurses and health officials who were on leave have been asked to report to work, Health Ministry sources said.

The government schools have been closed for Monday and Tuesday.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, under whose leadership the Lankan Army crushed the LTTE, termed the attack as "absolutely barbaric".

"It is absolutely barbaric to see such violent attacks on such a holy day. Whoever is behind these attacks must be dealt with immediately. My thoughts and prayers are with the families that lost loved ones and all of Sri Lanka," he said.

"We will not tolerate such violence, such acts of terrorism, of cowardice within our borders once again. We will stand together and rise up against it as one voice. We will stand united as a nation," he said.

Comments

Althaf
 - 
Sunday, 21 Apr 2019

In india Hindutva Terrorists blast bombs and try to put blame on musims head. Same way In sri lanka Buddists do all these terror work to blame muslims.

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News Network
March 16,2020

New Delhi, Mar 16: Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani has been summoned by the ED in connection with its money laundering probe against Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and others, officials said on Monday.

They said Ambani was asked to depose at the Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai on Monday as his group companies are among the big entities whose loans went bad after borrowing from the crisis-hit bank.

The officials said Ambani, 60, has sought exemption from appearance on some personal grounds and he may be issued a new date.

Ambani's group companies are stated to have taken loans of about Rs 12,800 crore from the bank that turned NPAs.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in a March 6 press conference that the Anil Ambani Group, Essel, ILFS, DHFL and Vodafone were among the stressed corporates Yes Bank had exposure to.

Officials said promoters of all the big companies who had taken large loans from the beleaguered bank which later turned bad are being summoned for questioning in the case to take investigation forward.

Ambani's statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) upon deposition, they said.

Kapoor, 62, is at present in ED custody after he was arrested by the central probe agency early this month.

The ED has accused Kapoor, his family members and others of laundering "proceeds of crime" worth Rs 4,300 crore by receiving alleged kickbacks in lieu of extending big loans through their bank that later turned NPA.

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Agencies
July 21,2020

Washington, Jul 21: Democrat Joe Biden urged Muslim Americans on Monday to join him in the fight to defeat President Donald Trump as he addressed an online summit hosted by the advocacy organisation Emgage Action to mobilise Muslim voters ahead of the presidential election.

I want to earn your vote not just because he's not worthy of being president, the presumptive presidential nominee told participants.

I want to work in partnership with you, make sure your voices are included in the decision-making process as we work to rebuild our nation.

Biden also reiterated a pledge to overturn a Trump administration ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries, calling it vile.

Wa'el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, said by email that the organisation was seeking to maximise Muslim American turnout in key battleground states.

In Michigan alone one of the states where the organisation has chapters and where Trump won in 2016 by fewer than 11,000 votes he said he believed there are more than 150,000 registered Muslim voters.

Several prominent Muslim American elected officials endorsed Biden for president in a letter organised by Emgage Action ahead of the summit.

Among those who signed the letter are Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Indiana Rep. Andre Carson, all Democrats.

Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, served as a high-profile surrogate for Bernie Sanders before he exited the presidential race in April making her support for Biden potentially helpful as the former vice president seeks to mobilise Muslim voters this fall.

Muslim American voices matter to our communities, to our country, Biden said.

But we all know that your voice hasn't always gotten recognised or represented.

Emgage Action has titled the event Million Muslim Votes, underscoring its emphasis on boosting Muslim turnout in November.

Joe Biden's presence serves not only to galvanise Muslim Americans to cast their ballots, but to usher in an era of engaging with Muslim American communities under a Biden administration, Alzayat said by email before the summit.

The pro-Biden letter from Muslim American elected officials decried a number of Trump's domestic and international policies, including his administration's travel ban and his pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.

A Biden administration will move the nation forward on many of the issues we care about, the letter said, citing racial justice, affordable health care, climate change and immigration.

The Muslim American officials also praised Biden's agenda for their communities.

Among other goals, Biden has vowed to rescind the travel ban affecting Muslims on Day One if he's elected.

In his address, he pledged to include Muslim American voices in his administration, if elected, and to speak out against human rights abuses against Muslim minorities around the world.

I'll continue to champion the rights of Palestinians and Israelis to have a state of their own as I have for decades, each of them a state of their own, he said.

Other state- and local-level Muslim American officials signing onto the pro-Biden letter hail from several states, including Michigan.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Ahmedabad, Aug 6: In a major incident, a fire broke out in a Covid-designated hospital in Ahmedabad killing eight coronavirus patients. The mishap occurred in the wee hours of Thursday.

All the victims were in the ICU ward, where the fire is said to have started. Officials said that they all died on the spot while 41 other patients were shifted to other hospitals following a rescue operation. One paramedic staff of the hospital who tried to douse the fire sustained burn injuries.  

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is also the health minister, said that primary information has revealed that fire was caused by the short circuit in the ICU ward where eight patients were under treatment. 

He said that 41 other patients were shifted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospital. The incident happened at Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura which is one of the Covid-19 designated hospitals. Over 300 patients have recovered at the hospital in the last two months.

Among the victims were five men and three women. They have been identified as Arif Mansuri, Narendra Shah, Manu Rami, Leelvati Shah, Navneet Shah, Jyoti Sindhi, Manu Rami and Ayesha Tirmizi  

Following the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Saddened by the tragic hospital fire in Ahmedabad. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to CM @vijayrupanibjp Ji and Mayor
@ibijalpatel Ji regarding the situation. Administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected."

Soon after the tweet, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered a probe into the matter to be conducted by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home, Sangeeta Singh and ACS (Urban Development) Mukesh Puri. 

They have been asked to submit a report in three days. Meanwhile, the hospital building has been sealed for further investigation. 

The chief minister has ordered a report within three days.

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