People caught up in the deadly Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka tell the BBC what they experienced.

Sky News

Conservative MEP Nerj Deva tells Sky News: "I missed the bomb by about one hour, because I delayed leaving the airport.

"And I arrived at the scene which was just terrible - a number of tourists had perished in the lobby of the hotel and some of the waiters and staff.

"Our hearts and prayers and thoughts go to those families who are suffering as their loved ones are either dying or injured in hospital.

"There is no sense to this absurd, disgusting act of senseless murder.

"And then a question mark hanging over the entire island as to what this all this is about.

"Sri Lankans have gone through a very difficult period in the last 40 years and come through it - and reconciliation and peace is paramount in this country - and now this has happened."

SriLankan Airlines has issued advice to its passengers following the attacks.

It says the country's main airport, Bandaranaike International, can still be reached despite an ongoing curfew. It says travellers will need to produce their tickets and passports at check points.

Image source, Reuters

The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, James Dauris, and his consular team have been visiting one of the main hospitals in Colombo.

He said: "I've been speaking this afternoon with Brits in hospital who have been affected by today's senseless attacks".

Mr Dauris did not say how many Britons have been affected.

He added: "My team's and my thoughts go out to all those people who are suffering as a result of the deplorable violence Sri Lanka has witnessed this Easter Sunday."

He urged those still in the country to contact relatives and to follow instructions from local authorities and hotel security. The British government has updated its travel advice., external

Officials have reported that there are 27 foreigners among the 207 dead.

See more on Britons caught in the explosions here

Turkey's state media Anadolu has announced that two Turkish citizens were killed in the bombings.

Anadolu said the Turks were engineers working on a project in Sri Lanka.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan tweeted: "I condemn in the strongest terms possible the Easter terror attacks in Sri Lanka. This is an assault on all of humanity."

Image source, Getty Images

One of the three churches attacked was in Batticaloa on Sri Lanka's east coast.

The city's Teaching Hospital has been treating most of the injured.

The hospital's deputy director, Dr Julaveerasingam Mohanakumar, said: "We saw a lot of black smoke coming from the site and they asked for our assistance to bring patients, injured cases, from the church to the hospital.

"We got 40 casualties to the accident and emergency unit and we got 25 dead bodies and of them five bodies were badly burnt and difficult to make identification.

"Initially, we got five dead children and a lot of children sustained injuries also. I actually don't know the number - about 15 children got admitted with injuries."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Kieran Arasaratnam was staying at the Shangri-La hotel, whose second-floor restaurant was gutted in a blast.

The Imperial College professor, a Sri Lankan who moved to the UK as a refugee 30 years ago, was visiting to help launch a social enterprise.

He told the BBC he heard a sound like "thunder" and started running for his life from the 18th to the ground floor.

"Everyone just started to panic, it was total chaos," he said. "I looked to the room on the right and there's blood everywhere.

"Everyone was running and a lot of people just didn’t know what was going on. People had blood on their shirt and there was someone carrying a girl to the ambulance. The walls and the floor were covered in blood."

The 41 year old said he could have been caught up in the blast had he not delayed his breakfast.

He said he left his room at around 08:45 local time - when several explosions are reported to have occurred at hotels and churches in different locations.

"Something distracted me so I went back to my room to grab my debit card, opened the curtain and switched off the ‘do not disturb’ sign … and a big blast went off," he said.

He said he was currently in an emergency shelter. There, he said he could "smell blood everywhere", with people injured in the blast needing treatment and searching for missing family members.

"It's awful seeing kids carried off covered in blood. I left Sri Lanka 30 years ago as a refugee and never thought I had to see this again."

Image source, Reuters

Sri Lanka has been rocked by at least eight blasts that targeted churches and high-end hotels on Easter Sunday. Here's the latest:

• At least 207 people have been killed and 450 hurt, including foreign nationals
• The death toll is expected to rise as hospitals report further casualty figures

• It is not yet clear who is responsible for the attacks, but Sri Lanka's defence minister has said they were probably carried out by one group
• Reports say seven people have been arrested
• A national curfew has been put in place "until further notice" and social media networks have been temporarily blocked

In a statement on its website, Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) said it has taken immediate steps to tighten security following the bombings.

It added: "The airport management requests the passengers to arrive at the airport at least four hours before the departure of their flights.

"Further, it is requested to avoid accompanying visitors to the airport and only the passengers will be allowed in the terminal building until further notice in order to facilitate the security measures".

At least eight blasts were reported. Three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo's Kochchikade district were targeted.

The Shangri-La, Kingsbury, Cinnamon Grand and a fourth hotel, all in the capital Colombo, were also hit.

Another explosion was reported near the Colombo district of Dematagoda.

Media say it was suicide bomber and that three people, believed to be security personnel, were killed during a police raid. Two people have reportedly been arrested in connection with that attack.

Image source, Getty Images

Sri Lanka is home to about 1.5 million Christians or about 7% of the population, according to the 2012 census. The vast majority are Roman Catholic.

Theravada Buddhism is Sri Lanka's biggest religion, making up about 70.2% of the population, according to the most recent census.

It is the religion of the country's Sinhalese majority. It is given primary place in the country's laws and is singled out in the constitution.

Hindus and Muslims make up 12.6% and 9.7% of the population respectively.

Cardinal Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, told the BBC’s Newshour programme:

"It's a very difficult and a very sad situation for all of us because we never expected such a thing to happen and especially on Easter Sunday.

“People went to church without knowing anything… and now many of them have been killed.

“I express my deepest sympathies to all those who have lost their loved ones. I would like to say that we are in solidarity with all those that are injured.

I would like to make an appeal to all the people of Sri Lanka not to make a disturbance because of hearsay, [They] should wait patiently and work for peace and harmony.”

Image source, Getty Images

Officials say nine foreigners have so far been confirmed killed in the attacks. They are believed to be from the US, the UK, Netherlands and Portugal.

Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok confirmed that a Dutch national was among the victims.

The Portuguese news agency Lusa has also reported that a Portuguese national had died.

Earlier Chinese state media said a Chinese national had also been killed.

Image source, AFP

This Sri Lankan witnessed people of all backgrounds working together to help victims in the eastern city of Batticaloa, where one of the church attacks took place.

Armed soldiers have been seen patrolling churches in Pakistan after the attacks in Sri Lanka.

Photos taken in Quetta, western Pakistan, show worshippers going into a Methodist church while a soldier stands guard on the roof.

Pakistan's Christians, like other religious minorities in the country, have been the target of escalating attacks in recent years.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

More than 200 people have been reported killed and hundreds injured, after several blasts in Colombo.

A Sri Lankan police spokesperson says 207 people have been killed and more than 400 injured.