‘Black Sunday’: Sri Lankan newspapers tell a tale of terror and tragedy - Newslaundry

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On an Easter Sunday, a string of eight blasts tore through Sri Lanka, targeting churches and luxury hotels. The bombings killed more than 200 people and injured close to 450 people. Today morning, Sri Lankan newspapers tell a tale of terror and tragedy.</span></p>.<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Daily FT</em>, a popular English daily, </span><a href="http://www.ft.lk/top-story/Extremism-engulfs-Sri-Lanka-on-Easter/26-676765"><span style="font-weight: 400;">quotes</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Sri Lanka State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene, who stated that a van was believed to have been used in the attacks and that 13 people have been arrested as suspects so far. “Do not publicise the name of the attackers, they will become heroes and be considered martyrs,” he said.</span></p>.<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>The Daily News</em> led with the </span><a href="http://www.dailynews.lk/2019/04/22/local/183491/black-sunday"><span style="font-weight: 400;">headline</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Black Sunday, and noted that all schools and universities will remain closed till Wednesday.</span></p>.<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Daily Mirror</em> has a series of </span><a href="http://www.dailymirror.lk/caption_story/Easter-Sunday-terror/110-165670"><span style="font-weight: 400;">pictures</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> from </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The National Hospital where family members of those who were killed and injured had gathered after the explosions in Colombo. <em>The Island</em> <a href="http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=202978">quotes</a> </span>Former President and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa: “We defeated brutal terrorists and ensured the safety of the people. But those who played a significant role in this, including intelligence officers and security forces personnel, have been harassed and demoralised. I blame the government for taking us back to the dark ages of fear. It also quotes the Police Spokesperson SSP Ruwan Gunasekera who said that “they suspected an organised group had carried out the attacks and that the CID has been entrusted with the investigations”. “All were bomb blasts and right now we suspect that the bomb in Negombo was a suicide attack. We cannot confirm it at this moment whether the others too were suicide attacks,” he says.</p>