All directly involved in Sri Lanka attacks dead or arrested – police official

Sri Lankan security personnel walk past debris outside Zion Church following an explosion in Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019. – A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on April 21, killing nearly 160 people, including dozens of foreigners. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police said all directly involved in the deadly Easter Sunday bombings have all been accounted for – with some of them arrested and some already dead, including two bomb experts who were among the suicide attackers who struck churches and hotels last April 21.

Acting police chief C.D. Wickramaratne also said in a statement late Monday that explosives the group stacked for use in more attacks have been seized.

The bombings killed 257 people and wounded hundreds at three churches and three hotels. Seven suicide bombers died at their targets while another exploded his device later at a guesthouse after his device failed at a leading tourist hotel. A ninth killed herself to avoid capture by police at her home.

Authorities arrested dozens of people after the bombings, and repeatedly said another attack from the Islamic State-linked extremist group was possible. /kga