On April 21st, 2019, the Sri Lankan Easter Bombings resulted in 270 deaths and 400 injuries. This sparked the need for improvements in communication, preparedness, and mitigation efforts within public places of worship. The nature of the bombings suggests they were planned and coordinated by extremist religious groups who had access to advanced weaponry and financial support. One consequence was that of tourism; tourism dropped by 70%, causing a huge economic crisis due to businesses that heavily relied on it.
There was little done to manage this tragedy; for instance, the government was aware of the bombings before they occurred. The Sri Lankan government was warned by countries, like India, that an extremist religious group threatened to attack the country, as well as the whereabouts of the group. They even knew that Churches would be the target of the bombings. To alleviate the consequences, the Sri Lankan government established a curfew, and immediately banned the use of social media after the attack to limit the spread of misinformation, however, it led to poor community responses and limited aid from Red Cross and FEMA.
The Sri Lankan Easter Bombings revealed the role of controlling panic and misinformation during an emergency disaster. There was little done by leaders, government, and authorities in Sri Lanka to prepare for the disaster and mitigate its effects. With more evaluations of government structure and existing policies, there can be better methods of responding to future possible terrorist attacks.
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