Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Kasargode, April 22 (The Hindu): Four Indian nationals were killed in the Colombo serial blasts while six others are reported to have escaped with minor injuries.

The four victims have been identified as P.S. Raseena, Lakshmi, Narayan Chandrashekhar, Ramesh.

Businessman and TDP leader Amilineni Surendrababu and five of his friends, who were on holiday inSri Lankaand staying at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo, had a narrow escape as blasts hit the hotel on Sunday morning. Superintendent of Police, Anantapur, G.V.G. Ashok Kumar said the six Indians were safe, but could not be contacted.

However, Ms Raseena, from Mogral Puthur of Kasargode district in Kerala was not so lucky and was killed even as she was checking out of the same hotel. According to relatives, Ms. Raseena and her husband Khader Kukadi, an engineer working in Dubai, were on a holiday in Colombo. Mr Kukadi had checked out of the hotel earlier on Sunday and left for Dubai while Ms Raseena was to leave the hotel and visit her brother, Mr. Bahseer, a resident of Colombo. Mr. Basheer, who was to pick Mr Raseena from the hotel, later identified her body at a city hospital.

Steps for flying down the body of Razeena who was killed in a blast at a hotel in Sri Lanka to the State are progressing, the Chief Minister’s office has informed.

In a press communique, the CMO said that the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs is in touch with the relatives of Razeena as well as the Indian High Commissioner’s office in Sri Lanka. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of Razeena.

Mr. Vijayan said that the blasts that occurred on an Easter day point to the communal elements and also underlines the need for freeing countries from the clutch of such elements who nurture intolerance. He condemned the incident and declared solidarity with those involved in a fight against intolerance and communalism.