PEOPLE in Sri Lanka have been dealing with the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attack which killed more than 200 people and injured a further 500.

Six blasts ripped through Colombo on Sunday morning at the shrine and the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels, as well as at two churches outside Colombo.

The explosions collapsed ceilings and blew out windows, killing worshippers and hotel guests in terrifying scenes of smoke, soot, blood, broken glass, screams and wailing alarms.

A morgue worker in the town of Negombo, where St Sebastian’s Church was targeted, said many bodies were proving hard to identify because of the extent of the injuries.

The US has said “several” Americans were among the dead, while Britain, India, China, Japan, Portugal and Australia said they, too, had lost citizens.

The streets were largely deserted yesterday morning, with most shops closed and a heavy deployment of soldiers and police.

Most social media remained blocked throughout the day after officials said they needed to curtail the spread of false information and ease tension in the country of around 21 million people.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he feared the massacre could trigger instability in Sri Lanka and vowed to “vest all necessary powers with the defence forces” to take action against those responsible.

Meanwhile, the country’s health minister said officials in Sri Lanka failed to heed warnings from intelligence agencies about the threat of an attack.

Rajitha Senaratne said the Easter Sunday bombings were carried out by domestic radical Muslim group National Thowfeek Jamaath.

Police are yet to say who they believe was behind the attacks.

But according to Senaratne, international intelligence agencies warned of the coordinated attacks several times, starting on April 4.

On April 9, the defence ministry wrote to the police chief with intelligence that included the group’s name, he said.

He added on April 11, police wrote to the heads of security of the judiciary and diplomatic security division.

It was not immediately clear what action, if any, was taken in response.

Seranatne said PM Wickremesinghe and his cabinet were kept in the dark about the intelligence until after the attacks.

President Maithrela Sirisena, who was out of the country at the time of the attacks, ousted the PM in late October and dissolved the cabinet.

The Supreme Court eventually reversed his actions, but the PM has not been allowed into meetings of the security council since October.

Meanwhile, two other government ministers alluded to intelligence failures.

Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando tweeted: “Some intelligence officers were aware of this incidence. Therefore there was a delay in action. Serious action needs to be taken as to why this warning was ignored.”

He added his father had heard of the possibility of an attack.

Mano Ganeshan, the minister for national integration, said his ministry’s security officers had been warned by their division about politicians potentially being targeted by suicide bombers.

Police, who said 13 suspects had been arrested, are investigating these reports.

Meanwhile, the billionaire behind online clothing retailer Asos – and one of Scotland’s largest private land owners – lost three of his four children in the attacks.

Anders Holch Povlsen is Denmark’s wealthiest man and, with his wife Anne, holds more than 200,000 acres of the Scottish Highlands.

The identities of his children who lost their lives in the attack have not been made public.

It was confirmed that eight Britons are among the dead. They include Anita Nicholson, 42, her 14-year-old son Alex and her 11-year-old daughter Annabel.

They are survived by father Ben.