Sri Lanka Catholics mark one month since bombings

Weeping Sri Lankan Catholics lit candles and prayed in a memorial service outside a bombed church on Tuesday, one month after Easter bombings by Islamist militants killed more than 250 people.

The April 21 attacks, claimed by militant group Islamic State, targeted three churches and three luxury hotels, shocking the island and shattering a decade of relative peace after the end of a 25-year civil war, reports Reuters.

Hundreds of worshippers, including survivors and relatives of the victims, gathered outside St. Anthony’s Shrine, a Catholic church in the capital, Colombo, for the ceremony.

“I did not want to come here,” said Gloria, one of those attending, as she wiped away tears.

“But we came to remember our daddy who left us,” added the 17-year-old, who was accompanied by her mother and 14-year-old sister, Sophia.

Gloria, who declined to give her surname, said she lost consciousness during the attack, and opened her eyes to see her sister crawling towards her and her father bleeding.