A soldier stands guard outside the Grand Mosque, days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on churches and luxury hotels across the island on Easter Sunday, in Negombo, Sri Lanka, April 26, 2019. [Photo/Agencies]
The Chinese Embassy in Colombo confirmed the death of four Chinese scientists in the Easter explosions in Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, raising the number of Chinese killed in the attacks to six.
The embassy said in a statement that the four Chinese scientists were from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the First Institute of Oceanopgraphy under the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, who arrived in Sri Lanka in the mid of April for research purposes. Their bodies had been found and identified by family members.
The embassy said another five people from the Chinese Academy of Sciences were also injured during the explosions, all of whom already went back to China for further treatments.
In the statement, the Chinese Embassy strongly condemned the terror acts, offered deep condolences over the death of the four scientists, and thanked the Sri Lankan government for its assistance.
Earlier, the Chinese embassy said two Chinese people were killed in the bombings and four others were feared dead.
A string of suicide bombings rocked hotels and churches across Sri Lanka on April 21, killing more than 250 people and wounding 500 others. According to the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, 42 foreign nationals are among those killed.
