Eerie moment 'bomber' casually walks into church before deadly Sri Lanka explosion
The eerie moment a man believed to be one of the Sri Lanka bombers walks into a church before a deadly explosion has been caught on video.
The CCTV vision, obtained by local media TV9, shows a man wearing a backpack making his way through the crowds outside St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, north of Colombo.
The news outlet claims the man is one of the suicide bombers responsible for the series of attacks.
More than 100 people were killed in the explosions that rocked the church.
The total death toll from all eight attacks reached 290 on Monday.
The suicide bombers hit three Colombo luxury hotels popular with foreign tourists – the Cinnamon Grand, the Shangri-La and the Kingsbury – and three churches, two in the Colombo region and one in the eastern city of Batticaloa.
The carnage, which also left some 500 people injured, was the worst atrocity since the South Asian country's civil war ended a decade ago.
Twenty-four people have been arrested over the Easter Sunday assault, authorities said.
A memorial service and funeral at St Sebastian’s Church is planned for Tuesday.
‘Calm’ bomber ‘touched granddaughter’s head’
A family is lucky to be alive after attending the church on Easter Sunday.
Dilip Fernando said he and his wife arrived at the church at 7.30am, but it was so busy they decided to go elsewhere for mass.
His in-laws and two great-grandchildren decided to stay, sitting outside because the church was so crowded.
It was there they saw a man they believe was the suicide bomber behind the deadly explosion.
"At the end of the mass they saw one young man go into the church in with a heavy bag," Fernando said.
"He touched my granddaughter's head on the way past. It was the bomber."
The family wondered why he was entering the church with mass nearly over, Mr Fernando said, adding the man had looked to be about 30 and "very young and innocent", according to his relatives.
"He was not excited or afraid. He was so calm."
Shortly after the man entered the church, there was a massive blast.
"They heard it and quickly ran away, they were so afraid. They called me immediately to ask if I was inside the church, but by then I was in a different church,” Mr Fernando said.
He said no one in his family had been killed or injured, but that the community had been devastated by the attack.
– with AFP
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