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Sri Lanka observes nationwide three-minute silence for bomb victims
COLOMBO, April 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sri Lankans across the island nation
observed three minutes of silence early Tuesday to pay tribute to nearly 300
people killed in a string of suicide attacks.
National flags were lowered and people bowed their heads as the silence
began at 8:30 am local time (0300 GMT), the time the first of six attacks
occurred on Sunday.
The government has declared a full day of national mourning on Tuesday,
with flags at all government institutions lowered to half mast, liquor shops
ordered shut and radio stations and television channels expected to play
sombre music.
At St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo where the first suicide bomb detonated
on Sunday morning, a crowd of several dozen people held up candles and prayed
silently, palms pressed together, eyes squeezed shut.
Some of them struggled to hold back tears, and as the three minutes drew
to a close, the crowd began to recite prayers.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0911 hrs