A US official wounded in Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday suicide bombings died in hospital, yesterday, raising the death toll to 258, which includes 45 foreigners, officials said.
United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz paid tribute to Chelsea Decaminada, who was critically injured when two bombers hit the 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 of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and attributed to a radical local cell called the National Thowheed Jamath.
The bombers targetted 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 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 said in a statement.
The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry previously said that 44 foreign nationals died in the attacks, while another 10 were still unaccounted for.
(Straits Times)
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