US official succumbs to SL Easter bombing injuries

(Colombo) AFP: A US official wounded in Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday suicide bombings has died in hospital, raising to 258 the total number killed, including 45 foreigners, officials said yesterday.

Alaina Teplitz, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, paid tribute to Chelsea Decaminada, who was seriously wounded when two bombers hit the luxury Shangri-La hotel in Colombo on April 21.

“We pay tribute to Chelsea -- and all those lost and injured -- by partnering with Sri Lanka and nations worldwide to bring unity in the face of terrorism,” Teplitz said.

Decaminada, a graduate of Duke University, worked for the US Commerce Department and was on assignment in Sri Lanka when she was caught in the bombings, claimed by the Islamic State group and attributed to a local radical cell called National Thowheeth Jama’ath.

The bombers targeted three luxury hotels and three Christian churches. Nearly 500 people were wounded in the attacks, the worst single-day bombing against civilians in the Indian Ocean island.

Officials said Decaminada was airlifted to Singapore for treatment but she succumbed to her injuries over the weekend.

“As we mourn her loss, we must continue to fight terrorism around the world,” US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross department said in a statement.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry had previously said 44 foreign nationals died in the attacks, while another 10 are still unaccounted for.

Sri Lankan authorities say they have arrested or killed all the jihadists responsible for the April 21 suicide bombings but the island still faces the threat of “global terrorism”, the prime minister said Tuesday.