One of the attackers behind the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka studied in the UK, officials say, as further details on the bombers emerge.
The country’s deputy defence minister said the bomber studied in the UK before doing a course in Australia.
The announcement came after the death toll rose again to 359 on Wednesday, with more than 500 people wounded.
BBC reported Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Islamic State (IS) group may be linked to the blasts.
IS has said it was responsible for the attacks, which targeted churches and high-end hotels, although it has not provided direct evidence of its involvement.
“We believe that one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and then, later on, did his postgraduate in Australia before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka,” Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene told a briefing on Wednesday.
UK authorities have been given his name and are investigating who he met prior to the attacks, says the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner.
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Mr Wijewardene said that “most of [the attackers] are well educated and come from middle or upper middle class” families.
“They are financially quite independent and their families are quite stable financially,” he added.
Two of the bombers are reportedly brothers and the sons of a wealthy Colombo spice trader. They detonated their explosives at the Shangri-La and the Cinnamon Grand hotels, police sources told the AFP news agency.
Authorities say they are looking into possible links between the locals who carried out the suicide bombings and the Islamic State group.
The first mass funeral was held on Tuesday, as Sri Lanka marked an official day of mourning for the victims.
Most of those who died were Sri Lankan nationals, including scores of Christians attending Easter Sunday church services.
Some 38 foreign nationals were among the dead, with another 14 unaccounted for. The death toll includes at least eight British citizens and at least 10 Indian nationals.
The mass funeral for about 30 victims took place at St Sebastian’s church in Negombo, north of Colombo, which was one of the places targeted in Sunday’s blasts. Another funeral service was scheduled for later on Tuesday.
A moment of silence was also observed at 08:30 on Tuesday, reflecting the time the first of six bombs detonated.
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