The first mass funeral has begun in Sri Lanka as the country marks a day of mourning for the victims of Sunday’s bomb blasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The death toll of the attacks on churches and hotels has increased to 310, police said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country has observed three minutes of silence and a state of emergency is in effect to prevent further attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sri Lanka’s government has blamed the blasts on local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police have now detained 40 suspects in connection with the attack, a spokesman said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mass funeral is taking place at St Sebastian’s church in Negombo, north of Colombo, which was one of the places targeted in Sunday’s blasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, a moment of silence was observed at 08:30 (03:00GMT), reflecting the time the first of six bombs detonated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flags were lowered to half mast and people bowed their heads in silence in respect to the victims as well as the 500 people injured during the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The state of emergency gives police and the military sweeping powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders – powers that were last used during the nation’s civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government blocked access to Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram after the blasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NTJ, the group named by the government as the main suspect, has no history of large-scale attacks but came to prominence last year when it was blamed for damaging Buddhist statues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, neither NTJ, nor any other group, has admitted carrying out Sunday’s bombings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Sunday, scrutiny has fallen on the rifts in Sri Lanka’s leadership, after it emerged authorities were warned about an imminent threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Security agencies had been watching the NTJ jihadist group, reports said, and had notified police about a possible attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the cabinet were not informed, ministers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A rift between Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena was why Mr Wickremesinghe has not been receiving security briefings, cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was not clear on Monday whether Mr Sirisena had been made aware of the warnings. “Our understanding is that it was correctly circulated among security and police,” Shiral Lakthilaka, a senior adviser to Mr Sirisena, told the BBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that the president had appointed a special committee led by a supreme court judge to investigate what had happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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