Suicide bombs involved in two of Sri Lanka blasts: sources

COLOMBO: Suicide bombers were involved in at least two of the deadly blasts that ripped through churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday killing around 160 people, according to police and hotel officials.

The eighth blast, in a house in a northern suburb of the capital Colombo, was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives when police entered the residence to search it, a police source told AFP.

The explosion brought down the upper level of the house and killed three police officers, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

And a hotel official at the Cinnamon Grand hotel, one of three in the capital that were hit by explosions, said a suicide bomber blew himself up at people at the facility's restaurant.

"He came up to the top of the queue and set off the blast," he told AFP.

The nature of the other blasts has not yet been confirmed, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadly attacks -- the worst act of violence in Sri Lanka since the end of the country's bloody civil war a decade ago.