Sri Lanka attack death toll rises to 290 -- live updates - CNN

When the first wave of blasts rocked St. Sebastian Church on Easter Sunday, more than 1,000 people had gathered to celebrate the holiest day in the Christian calendar.

As details start to emerge and the investigation gets underway, residents reveal their shock at being targeted.

No one in this small, close knit Christian community had any reason to expect they might be attacked, or even experienced much hostility ahead of the bombing.

Minuri, 26, said she was outside the church when the explosion occurred and saw glass and other debris outside the church.

“We saw people being carried out, the injured,” she said. “We all knew the people who had died, everyone in the community.”

Tape cordons off the church after it was rocked by a blast during a packed service on Easter Sunday.

A local resident living opposite the shrine, who declined to give his name, said his windows were blown out by the blast.

I’m still in shock,” he said. “These were innocent people.”

He said there had not been any threats or other intimidation of the predominantly Christian community here in Katuwapitiya. “It came out of the blue, completely out of the blue,” he added.

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