COLOMBO – Sri Lankan authorities revised the Easter bombings death toll down by about 100 on Thursday, blaming the difficulty in identifying body parts at bomb scenes for the earlier inaccurate number.
The recent official toll revision will enhance pressure on the government which in already under severe criticism for its apparent failure to take appropriate measures to act on intelligence about the attacks, followed by the resignation of a top defence official.
Sri Lankan Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene blamed inaccurate data provided by morgues for the discrepancy and said that the new official figure was 253, down from an earlier 359.
The health minister said that many of the victims were badly mutilated, adding that there was double counting.
The ministry did not offer a new breakdown of the tally in terms of locals and foreigners. Earlier, Sri Lanka s foreign ministry had said 40 of the victims were foreign nationals.
The foreign victims of Easter bombings included British, US, Australian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals, while the majority of the locals died in the deadly attacks, leaving about 500 people wounded. Private burials were still to be carried out.
On Thursday, Britain warned its nationals to avoid travelling the country unless it was absolutely necessary fearing that there could be more attacks.
Sri Lankan authorities and security forces are now in a desperate hunt for suspects involved in the Easter bombings and the police released the names and photos of four men and three women wanted in connection with the attacks.
The suicide bomb attacks on three churches and four hotels have exposed an intelligence failure, with accusations that warnings had not been acted on and feuds at the top levels of government had undermined security cooperation.
Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned over the failure to prevent the attacks.
