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No Koreans reported killed or injured in Sri Lanka bombings: embassy

April 21, 2019 - 17:26 By Yonhap

No South Korean nationals were reported killed or injured in the deadly bombings in the Sri Lankan capital and two other towns on Easter Sunday, the Korean embassy in the South Asian country said.

As many as 129 churchgoers and hotel guests were reportedly killed and some 250 others were wounded in the blasts that rocked St. Anthony's Shrine and three hotels in Colombo and two other churches in Negombo and Batticaloa.

Local police are still investigating who is behind the bombings, although suicide bombers were suspected in some of the six blasts, according to media reports.


(Yonhap)

"Following the bombings, (the Korean embassy) contacted Korean churches, the Korean community, the KOICA (the Korea International Cooperation Agency) and other Korean residents (in Sri Lanka) and found that no Korean nationals have been affected," an official at the embassy said.

But the embassy will stay on the alert and keep in contact with the local police and hospitals for the possibility of any Korean deaths or injuries that could be reported going forward, the official said.

The embassy also advised the Korean community in Sri Lanka against going out if not necessary.

Sri Lanka has a community of some 1,000 Koreans, about 400 of them in the capital of Colombo. (Yonhap)