87 bomb detonators found at Colombo bus station: Police

Eighty-seven detonators were found at Sri Lanka's Colombo bus station on Monday, a day after the series of blasts ripped through the island-nation killing as many as 290 people. Over 500 people were also injured.  

In a statement police found the detonators at the Bastian Mawatha Private bus stand, 12 of them scattered on the ground and another 75 in a garbage dump nearby, AFP reported.

Earlier in the day, twenty-four people were arrested by Sri Lanka police in connection with eight devastating bomb blasts on churches and hotels.

Sri Lankan airforce also successfully defused an improvised pipe bomb discovered close to Colombo's main airport.

People from at least eight countries were killed in the series of attacks, including five citizens of Britain, five Indian nationals, three Danes, two each from China and Turkey and one each from Netherlands and Portugal.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sririsena announced a nation-wide emergency which will come into effect from midnight today. 

The development came soon after the Sri Lankan authorities lifted a curfew in the country on Monday and another night-time curfew was imposed. 

According to reports, a memo that warned of a potential attack was circulated a day before the deadly explosions in Sri Lanka.

The memo dated April 11 was signed by Sri Lanka's deputy inspector general of police.

As many as 290 people were killed and about 500 wounded by a string of bombings that tore through churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka. The attacks are been billed as the worst-ever in the history of the island nation after the civil war that ended almost a decade ago.

Out of Sri Lanka's total population of around 22 million, 70 per cent are Buddhist, 12.6 per cent Hindu, 9.7 per cent Muslim and 7.6 per cent Christian, according to the country's 2012 census.

(With inputs from news agencies)