Sri Lanka mourns the Easter bombing attacks that claimed hundreds of lives

Sri Lankans pay tribute after a series of bombs killed at least 290 and injured at least 450 people in multiple cities across the country Sunday (April 21).

Some of the country's most famous hotels and churches were partially destroyed by the blasts, which killed tourists and Christian worshippers on Easter Sunday.

Sri Lankan officials promised citizens that the government has begun to sort out next steps and that twenty-four people have been arrested in connection to the bombings.

The first explosion went off in the St. Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade in Colombo, the second - in the St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, 30 km north of Colombo, the third bomb was detonated in a church in the town of Batticaloa in the east of the country.

Around the same time, the explosions hit the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels in the Sri Lankan capital. The seventh blast happened in the Colombo zoo, while the eighth bomb exploded in the Dematagoda, a suburb in Colombo.