Mass prayers and burial for Lanka blasts victims

Funeral prayers were held at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo on Tuesday ahead of a mass burial for the victims of Easter Sunday bombings. Colombo's archbishop, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said at least 110 people were killed at St. Sebastian's Church.

Colombo: With so many people dead, Sri Lanka went for mass burial. Ahead of that, mass funeral prayers were held at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo for the blasts victims on Tuesday.

Colombo's archbishop, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said at least 110 people were killed at St. Sebastian's Church.

Relatives of the deceased gathered with flowers to the funeral service and prayed as the coffins were being carried in and out of the church.

St. Sebastian's church is located in a seaside fishing town at the centre of Sri Lanka's small Catholic community in Negombo which is called "Little Rome" for its abundance of churches.

The death toll from Sunday's attacks rose to 310 while 500 people remain injured, informed police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara.

Sri Lankan authorities say at least 31 foreigners died in the attacks.

The country observed three minutes of silence and a state of emergency was declared.