Anantapur TDP leader Hurt In Blast At Shangri-la In Sri Lanka

Hyderabad: It was a narrow escape for Anantapur TDP ticket aspirant who went to Sri Lanka on a holiday with five of his friends. They were in the luxury Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo on Easter Sunday, one of the venues that was rocked by the eight bomb explosions in Sri Lanka.

A prominent businessman S.R. Constructions Managing Director Alimineni Surendrababu ran out of the hotel's emergency exit and saved himself. Surendrababu, along with his friend Balla were having breakfast when the explosion happened.

Balla, in a Facebook live from the hotel spoke about the blasts. He said that he suffered injuries in the thigh from splinters, while Surendrababu suffered an injury in his nose.

Speaking to a leading daily, Balla said that the restaurant was on the third floor of the building while the explosion took place near the entrance. They were not gravely hurt as they were sitting beside a pillar, he added.

After a minute, there was another explosion, he told.

Surendrababu had tried for a party ticket from Kalyandurg Assembly constituency in Anantapur district. He was not given the ticket.

Superintendent of Police GVG Askok Kumar told a national daily that the six of them are safe but could not be contacted for further details.

Five Indians are among the 290 people who have been confirmed dead in the deadly Easter Sunday suicide bombings in Sri Lanka. No group has yet claimed direct responsibility yet.

The first of the eight blasts took place on Sunday morning in three luxury hotels -- Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-la, Kingsbury -- in the heart of Colombo and in a church each in Colombo, Negombo, 30 km from Colombo, and in the Tamil-majority Batticaloa town in the island's east that was once a Tamil Tiger stronghold.

Later in the afternoon, another blast hit a guest house near the zoo in Dehiwala in Colombo, killing two persons, and a housing complex at Dematogoda in the city leaving three policemen dead.

Also Read: 5 Indians Among 290 Dead In Sri Lanka Bombings