1 Japanese national dead, 4 injured in Sri Lanka terror attacks

TOKYO - One Japanese national has been confirmed dead and four more were wounded in weekend Sri Lankan terror attacks that killed more than 200 people, a Japanese government official said Monday.

The family of the slain Japanese has requested that the victim's identity not be made public, the Foreign Ministry official said. A separate government official said the victim was believed to be a local resident and was pronounced dead after being sent to a hospital with severe injuries on Sunday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday expressed his condolences to the Sri Lankan people and said he felt "a deep sadness and great anger" at the attacks.

"Japan will stand with Sri Lanka and the international community to combat terrorism," he told reporters.

The Japanese government has dispatched to the South Asian country a special unit to gather information from local investigative authorities on the Japanese victims and the attackers, according to government officials.

In total, over 450 people were injured in the attacks in Colombo and other parts of Sri Lanka targeting churches and luxury hotels.

In the blasts, which Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena called terror attacks, at least 35 foreigners including Chinese, American and Dutch nationals were killed in addition to the Japanese, and 13 people were arrested in connection with the bombings, according to local reports.

Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190422/p2g/00m/0na/031000c