Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone.
Yet somehow, there's a beauty to St. Sebastian's, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka's capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up.
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Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone.
For more than 50 years, St. Sebastian's had been the scene of weddings and baptisms, of Christmas celebrations and countless Masses.
St. Sebastian's walls are now blackened near where the bomber stood when he killed himself, spraying shrapnel in every direction. From inside, you see destruction wherever you look.
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a bird flies over St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. From inside, you see destruction wherever you look. But from outside the church, if you ignore the police tape and if you’re standing far enough away, you might think nothing had happened there at all. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a surveyor walks inside the damaged St. Sebastian's Church where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Sunday Easter in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, Sri Lankan policemen keep vigil at St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday, in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a statue of Jesus Christ stands on the altar of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up. There is beauty in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a stained-glass window stands broken at Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital. You can see the beauty in the broken stained-glass windows. It’s there as the sun shines through the roof’s gaping holes. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a statue of St. Jude stands on a wall speckled with fragments of shrapnel at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a policeman stands guard, as surveyors work at St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. For more than 50 years, St. Sebastian’s had been the scene of weddings and baptisms, of Christmas celebrations and countless Masses. The walls are now blackened near where the bomber stood when he killed himself, spraying shrapnel in every direction. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, Catholic priests walk outside St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. From inside, you see destruction wherever you look. But from outside the church, if you ignore the police tape and if you’re standing far enough away, you might think nothing had happened there at all. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
You can see the beauty in the broken stained-glass windows. It's there as the sun shines through the roof's gaping holes. It's there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo.
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a statue of St. James stands on a wall speckled with fragments of shrapnel at St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital. You can see the beauty in the broken stained-glass windows. It’s there as the sun shines through the roof’s gaping holes. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
For more than 50 years, St. Sebastian's had been the scene of weddings and baptisms, of Christmas celebrations and countless Masses.
It's still not clear exactly how many died Sunday at the Negombo church, but perhaps nearly half of the roughly 250 people killed in the Easter bombings that targeted churches and high-end hotels. Authorities say a once-obscure militant Muslim group carried out the attacks.
In a largely Buddhist country, Negombo is mostly Catholic town with dozens of churches. For days, it has been in mourning.
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a Sri Lankan policewoman looks at the damage inside St. Sebastian's Church, one of the sites of Easter Sunday's bombings, in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
St. Sebastian's walls are now blackened near where the bomber stood when he killed himself, spraying shrapnel in every direction. From inside, you see destruction wherever you look.
But from outside the church, if you ignore the police tape and if you're standing far enough away, you might think nothing had happened there at all.
You might think St. Sebastian's is a place known only for weddings and baptisms, for Christmas celebrations and countless Masses.
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, sunlight steams in from gaping holes at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a bird flies over St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. From inside, you see destruction wherever you look. But from outside the church, if you ignore the police tape and if you’re standing far enough away, you might think nothing had happened there at all. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a surveyor walks inside the damaged St. Sebastian's Church where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Sunday Easter in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, Sri Lankan policemen keep vigil at St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday, in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, even after the cleaners have come through, the blood can still be seen clearly. The statues of Jesus and the saints are still speckled with fragments of shrapnel. The smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a statue of Jesus Christ stands on the altar of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up. There is beauty in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a stained-glass window stands broken at Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital. You can see the beauty in the broken stained-glass windows. It’s there as the sun shines through the roof’s gaping holes. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a statue of St. Jude stands on a wall speckled with fragments of shrapnel at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighborhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where a man calmly walked in during Easter services with a heavy backpack and blew himself up. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, a policeman stands guard, as surveyors work at St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. For more than 50 years, St. Sebastian’s had been the scene of weddings and baptisms, of Christmas celebrations and countless Masses. The walls are now blackened near where the bomber stood when he killed himself, spraying shrapnel in every direction. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2019 photo, Catholic priests walk outside St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Easter Sunday in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. From inside, you see destruction wherever you look. But from outside the church, if you ignore the police tape and if you’re standing far enough away, you might think nothing had happened there at all. (AP PhotoManish Swarup)
