Colombo [Sri Lanka], Apr 22 (ANI): A "controlled explosion" was recorded near the St. Anthony’s church in Kochchikade here on Monday, according to reports in Sri Lankan media. The fresh explosion took place when Sri Lanka's Special Task Force's (STF) bomb disposal units were diffusing an explosive device found inside a van stationed near the church, Sri Lankan news portal Ada Derana reported. The damage caused by the latest explosion is yet to be revealed. This comes as 87 low explosive detonators were found at a private bus stand in Bastian Mawatha, in Pettah, as per the Police Media Spokesperson. The toll in the eight coordinated bomb blasts that rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday rose to 290, police said on Monday. Meanwhile, 24 people were arrested in connection with the gruesome attacks which left around 500 people injured. A national emergency has been declared across Sri Lanka in the wake of the blasts, the worst violence in Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war 10 years ago. Police also said that an improvised pipe bomb found close to Colombo's main airport late was successfully detonated late Sunday. While investigations into the deadly attacks are underway, there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the terrorist incident. Sri Lankan authorities suspect that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, terming the tragedy as a case of 'intelligence failure'. The Easter Sunday bomb attacks in Sri Lanka were carried out by Sri Lankan nationals with the help of an international network, cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said on Monday. Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told the media that the bomb attacks were carried out by Sri Lankan nationals with the help of an international network. “We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country. There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded,” Senaratne said, according to Arab News. He had earlier told journalists during a presser on Monday that all the attackers were members of the National Thowheeth Jamath (NTJ) terror group. (ANI)<doc-sep>Watch: Bomb defused behind WION correspondent in Colombo Police have confirmed a controlled explosion took place amid heavy security. DNA Web Team Apr 22, 2019, 05:52 PM IST A 'controlled explosion' took place in Colombo on Monday afternoon and WION correspondent Sidhant Sibal was reporting from near St Anthony’s Church in Colombo where the incident took place. It’s the second controlled explosion since morning. There were no reports of injuries, WION correspondent reported. The blast occurred close to WION cameras. Security officials immediately cordoned off the area. Police have confirmed a controlled explosion took place amid heavy security. Reports had said earlier that eighty-seven detonators were found at Sri Lanka's Colombo bus station on Monday, a day after the series of blasts ripped through the island-nation killing at least 290 people. With inputs from WION Thanks sir. Scary moment indeed. https://t.co/ZqVmyOM4JK — Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 22, 2019 A controlled explosion took place. 2nd since this morning. https://t.co/6Tvk20Nm9u — Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 22, 2019 Was present just few meters from this place. Infact, did my 3 pm live from just infront of this place. https://t.co/V5kvU1I2ik — Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 22, 2019 A second bomb was defused in #Colombo a short while ago. The explosion took place right behind WION's @sidhant when he was reporting live. Watch the moment caught on WION's cameras#SriLankaBlasts #StAnthony pic.twitter.com/0NsH1dO7DS — WION (@WIONews) April 22, 2019 1. Indian Coast Guard on high alert 1/3 The Indian Coast Guard has beefed up surveillance and deployed more ships and aircraft for patrolling following a series of devastating blasts in Sri Lanka on Sunday. This has been done to ensure that no element that could pose as a security threat sneaks into the country through sea, a senior Coast Guard official said. "We have deployed all our ships from Coast Guard stations at Tuticorin, Mandapam and Karaikal for surveillance," the official said. He said the surveillance was stepped up as soon as reports of the blasts started emerging Sunday. Seven suicide bombers, believed to be members of an Islamist extremist group, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing 290 people and wounding 500 others in the country's worst terror attack. 2. 87 bomb detonators found on Monday at bus station 2/3 As many as 87 bomb detonators were found on Monday at a bus station in Colombo, police said, a day after a series of deadly blasts killed 290 people and wounded more than 500 others in the island nation. The bomb detonators were found at the Central Colombo bus station in Pettah area. The police initially found 12 bomb detonators scattered on the ground. A further search revealed 75 more, a police statement said. On Easter Sunday, a string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka, killing 290 people, including three Indians, and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE. The blasts - one of the deadliest attacks in the country's history - targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and Zion Church in the eastern town of Batticaloa at around 8.45 a.m. (local time) as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress. Explosions were also reported from three five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury in Colombo. 3. Eye-witness account from Shangri-La<doc-sep>A Sri Lankan police officer patrols out side a mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka | Photo Credit: AP Colombo: Sri Lanka remained on high alert as police on Wednesday carried out a controlled explosion of a suspicious motorcycle parked near a cinema hall here. The police said that the area near the Savoy Cinema at Wellawatta, South Colombo was cleared and the controlled explosion was carried out by the bomb disposal squad to check the motorcycle which had no owner. No explosives were found in the vehicle. Sri Lankan police have asked all motorists and motorcyclists to leave their contact numbers in their vehicles when they leave them parked in the city. Security forces have launched nationwide search operations to nab the perpetrators of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks that claimed more than 350 lives. Several people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the devastating blasts when seven suicide bombers carried out the series of blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, in the country's worst terror attack.<doc-sep>
A 'controlled explosion' occurred in Colombo on Monday afternoon. WION correspondent Sidhant Sibal was reporting from near St Anthony's church in Colombo where the explosion took place. This was the second controlled explosion since morning. Was present just few meters from this place. Infact, did my 3 pm live from just infront of this place. https://t.co/V5kvU1I2ik — Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 22, 2019 × There were no reports of injuries, WION correspondent reported. The blast occurred close to WION cameras. Security officials immediately cordoned off the area. Police have confirmed a controlled explosion took place amid heavy security. Reports had said earlier that eighty-seven detonators were found at Sri Lanka's Colombo bus station on Monday, a day after the series of blasts ripped through the island-nation killing at least 290 people. A controlled explosion took place. 2nd since this morning. https://t.co/6Tvk20Nm9u — Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 22, 2019 × On Easter Sunday, blasts were reported at three Sri Lankan churches and three luxury hotels. The three hotels that were hit were the Shangri-La Colombo, Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo and the Cinnamon Grand Colombo in the capital city. St Anthony's Shrine, a Catholic Church in Kochcikade, Colombo, was one of the churches where a blast was reported on Sunday along with an explosion at St Sebastian's gothic-style Catholic church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo and an explosion that hit an evangelical church in Batticaloa in eastern province. Later in the day, the Sri Lankan police reported the seventh explosion, the fourth at a hotel near the national zoo, which is in an area near the capital Colombo, Reuters reported. The latest and the eighth in the series of Easter Day explosions occurred in the suburb of Orugodawatta in the north of the capital city Colombo.