Sri Lanka attack death toll revised down to 'around 253' from 359, government says

The death toll in the Sri Lanka attack is around 100 fewer than originally thought
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Katy Clifton25 April 2019

The death toll after the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka has been revised down by more than 100.

The government said that the total number killed in the attacks is actually "around 253", rather than the 359 first thought.

Officials explained the incorrect death toll was due to the horrific nature of the explosions and difficulty in gathering body parts.

"It could be 250 or 260. I can't exactly say," Anil Jasinghe, the director general of Sri Lanka's health services said. "There are so many body parts and it is difficult to give a precise figure."

Sri Lankan security personnel walk through debris
AFP/Getty Images

Ruwan Wijewardene, Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister whose ministry is responsible for the island's police force, said the death toll had been revised due to inaccurate figures provided by the country's morgues.

"Unfortunately the health ministry provided the earlier number to us," he said.

The revised figure comes as the UK's Foreign Office warned against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka following the attacks.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday: "Our hope is that it will be possible to change this when the current security operation has concluded.

"My first priority will always be the security of British citizens living and travelling abroad."

Sri Lanka bombings - In pictures

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Nine bombers co-ordinated blasts targeting churches and hotels frequented by foreign tourists on Sunday.

One suicide bomber reportedly educated in the UK was radicalised after leaving Britain, his sister said.

Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed is understood to have studied in the south-east of England between 2006 and 2007, later completing a postgraduate course in Australia.

His sister Samsul Hidaya told MailOnline: "My brother became deeply, deeply religious while he was in Australia, he came back to Sri Lanka a different man.

"He had a long beard and had lost his sense of humour."

She told the news site he ended up "really angry and totally crazy", and admonished male relatives who shaved their beards.

Sri Lankan security personnel keep watch outside the church premises 
AFP/Getty Images

Mohamed is reported to have studied aerospace engineering at Kingston University in south-west London, but the university on Thursday said it could not confirm this.

The identity of Mohamed was first reported by Sky News, which said he was in the UK between January 2006 and September 2007, before returning to the UK in 2008 for a period.

Two of the bombers were the sons of a wealthy spice trader, according to media reports.

The father of the men was reportedly arrested on Thursday on suspicion of aiding his sons.

Many of the attackers came from well-educated, middle-class families, and had been part of a pair of little-known extremist Muslim groups, Sri Lanka's junior defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told reporters.

Police in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo have detained 58 people in connection with the bombings, claimed by the Islamic State group.

"Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Sri Lanka. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners," updated Foreign Office guidance said on Thursday.

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