Sri Lanka Blasts: Another missing JDS worker confirmed dead, death count of Indians rises to 9

Five JD(S) workers from Karnataka, who were on a visit to Sri Lanka, have been killed in the multiple blasts in the island nation, according to Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday. "Pained to learn that we lost one more Kannadiga in the #SrilankaBlasts. @IndiainSL has confirmed the death of  Sri Hanumaiah Shivakumar. The Chief Secretary is in constant touch with the consulate in SriLanka," tweeted Kumaraswamy on Monday evening.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister tweeted: "I am deeply pained at the loss of our people in the #colombo attacks. Out of the seven missing after the #TerrorAttack, four have been declared dead...." The dead are Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh, KM Lakshminarayan, M Rangappa and KG Hanumantharayappa, he said. H Shivukumar was among those missing in the incident. The workers are A Maregowda and H Puttaraju, Kumaraswany said.   

"They were also committed workers of our party and their death has brought immense sorrow to us," Kumaraswamy said.

The latest development came hours soon after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed that two more Indian nationals have been killed in the Sri Lankan serial blasts. They were identified as Vemurai Tulsiram and SR Nagaraj. With the latest death toll, the total number of Indians killed in the blasts rose to nine. Earlier in the day, Swaraj on Monday identified two more individuals killed in the blasts.

The Karnataka chief minister said he was with their families and prayed to the Almighty to give strength to them and their near and dear ones to bear the grief.A string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing over 290 people and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE.

Kumaraswamy had on Sunday strongly condemned the terrorist attack, saying terrorism is an act of cowardice and an attack on humanity.

"Terrorism is an act of cowardice and an attack on humanity. I strongly condemn the #TerroristAttack in #Colombo, Sri Lanka, where over 150 people have been killed and more than 300 injured," he had tweeted.

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