The death toll from bomb blasts that ripped through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka rose dramatically Monday to 290 -- including dozens of foreigners -- as police announced new arrests over the country's worst attacks for more than a decade.
More than 500 people were injured in the Easter Sunday assault that saw suicide bombers hit three high-end hotels popular with foreign tourists and three churches, unleashing carnage in Colombo and beyond.
The attacks were the worst ever carried out against Sri Lanka's small Christian minority, who make up just seven percent of the 21 million population.
At least 37 foreigners were among the dead, the foreign ministry said.