On Sunday, April 21, three Christian churches, three hotels, and two other homes were targeted in a terrorist attack in Sri Lanka. Bombings occurred on Easter morning as people attended masses or services in celebration of the resurrection of Christ. Resulting in 253 deaths, the huge loss for Sri Lanka due to the terrorist attack had an immense impact on the citizens of the country. Shock, grief, and mass turmoil had taken place as the country is still recovering from the horrific attack.

According to CNN, the bombings were caused by seven suicide bombers. The bombers were Sri Lankan citizens and were affiliated with the National Thowheeth Jama’ath, an islamic militant group in Sri Lanka. The group has been known to target Buddhists, Sufis, and now Christians. Now believed to be in retaliation to the shootings in Islamic mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, the bombings in Sri Lanka are being linked to the white supremacist attack.

Now that the Easter day bombings have been more thoroughly investigated, new information on the bombings that occurred last month have surfaced. Originally, officials believed that there were 359 death. The death count went down to 253 due to DNA cross referencing and the same body parts matched to some of the same people (NDTV). Still, there are ten foreign bodies not claimed by any countries yet. The injury count spiked to 500 people after the Easter Day Bombing.

Because of the terrorist attack, the Sri Lankan government issued a nationwide curfew at 6:00pm each night from April 22 to April 27. The curfew was issued so that a proper investigation could be conducted without too many people crowding the investigation areas. The Sri Lankan government also put a ban on social media for a bit to stop sites from posting false information on the event. On April 30, the ban was lifted but then put on again on May 13.

The Easter Day Bombings have created a sense of unity for all the victims in Sri Lanka. Since then, social media has erupted with the hashtags “#prayforsrilanka” and “#easterdaybombing”. On social media in the states, people have been coming together to fight against terrorism of any kind. Responding to the Easter Day Bombings, Sarah Kim (11) was

“mortified and deeply saddened to hear the news of those who passed” and is “supporting the families of those directly affected”.

With more information still being uncovered, so many more unknowns are being investigated. Until now, Easter day around the world will definitely be changed after the attacks.