crown

Subscribe Now

FOLLOW US

Sign in

Photos: St. Sebastian’s Church, a week after Easter Sunday bombings

In largely Buddhist Sri Lanka, Negombo is a mostly Catholic town with dozens of churches. For days, it has been in mourning. For more than 50 years, St. Sebastian's Church had been the scene of weddings and baptisms, of Christmas celebrations and countless Masses. On April 21, it was among the locations of the Easter bombings that targeted churches and high-end hotels killing roughly 250 people. Its interiors still speak of the destruction and loss, but stand far enough away from the police tape, and one might just think nothing had happened there at all.

Updated on: Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM IST

Share via

Copy link

1/9

Blood stains are seen on the wall and on a Jesus Christ statue at the St. Sebastian’s Church after a blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. (AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

Blood stains are seen on the wall and on a Jesus Christ statue at the St. Sebastian’s Church after a blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. (AP)

2/9

A view of damage left behind by the blast at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighbourhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up. (Chamila Karunarathne / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

A view of damage left behind by the blast at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighbourhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up. (Chamila Karunarathne / AP)

3/9

A statue of St. Jude stands on a wall speckled with fragments of shrapnel at St. Sebastian’s Church. One can see the beauty in the broken stained-glass windows. It’s there as the sun shines through the roof’s gaping holes. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (Manish Swarup / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

A statue of St. Jude stands on a wall speckled with fragments of shrapnel at St. Sebastian’s Church. One can see the beauty in the broken stained-glass windows. It’s there as the sun shines through the roof’s gaping holes. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (Manish Swarup / AP)

4/9

Clergymen visit the scene after the suicide bombing at St. Sebastian’s Church. It’s still not clear exactly how many died on Sunday at the Negombo church, but perhaps nearly half of the roughly 250 people killed in the Easter bombings that targeted churches and high-end hotels. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

Clergymen visit the scene after the suicide bombing at St. Sebastian’s Church. It’s still not clear exactly how many died on Sunday at the Negombo church, but perhaps nearly half of the roughly 250 people killed in the Easter bombings that targeted churches and high-end hotels. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

5/9

Relatives throw flower petals on the coffin of Dhami Brandy, 13, a victim of Easter Sunday's bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church, in Negombo. For more than 50 years, St. Sebastian’s had been the scene of weddings and baptisms, of Christmas celebrations and countless Masses. (Manish Swarup / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

Relatives throw flower petals on the coffin of Dhami Brandy, 13, a victim of Easter Sunday's bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church, in Negombo. For more than 50 years, St. Sebastian’s had been the scene of weddings and baptisms, of Christmas celebrations and countless Masses. (Manish Swarup / AP)

6/9

Workers bury coffins during a mass funeral for Easter Sunday bomb blast victims in Negombo. Authorities say a once-obscure militant Muslim group carried out the attacks. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

Workers bury coffins during a mass funeral for Easter Sunday bomb blast victims in Negombo. Authorities say a once-obscure militant Muslim group carried out the attacks. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

7/9

Mourners grieve at the burial of three members of the same family, victims of Easter Sunday bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church. In a largely Buddhist country, Negombo is mostly Catholic town with dozens of churches. For days, it has been in mourning. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

Mourners grieve at the burial of three members of the same family, victims of Easter Sunday bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church. In a largely Buddhist country, Negombo is mostly Catholic town with dozens of churches. For days, it has been in mourning. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

8/9

A priest conducts religious rituals during a mass burial for Easter Sunday bomb blast victims in Negombo. St. Sebastian’s walls are now blackened near where the bomber stood when he killed himself, spraying shrapnel in every direction. From inside, one can see destruction wherever the eye falls. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

A priest conducts religious rituals during a mass burial for Easter Sunday bomb blast victims in Negombo. St. Sebastian’s walls are now blackened near where the bomber stood when he killed himself, spraying shrapnel in every direction. From inside, one can see destruction wherever the eye falls. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)

9/9

Catholic priests walk outside St. Sebastian’s Church. But from outside the church, if one moves past the police tape and stands far enough away ignoring its cordon, one might think nothing had happened there at all. (Manish Swarup / AP)

Updated on Apr 30, 2019 11:59 AM

Catholic priests walk outside St. Sebastian’s Church. But from outside the church, if one moves past the police tape and stands far enough away ignoring its cordon, one might think nothing had happened there at all. (Manish Swarup / AP)

Related Photos

Home/Photos/News/Photos: St. Sebastian’s Church, A Week After Easter Sunday Bombings

© 2026 HindustanTimes