Across Sri Lanka on Sunday morning, travelers and worshipers settled in at tables for Easter breakfast and into pews at churches on the country’s east and west coasts, where they had come to celebrate a holy resurrection.

Then the explosions began.

Between 8:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, in three cities, suicide bombers at three luxury hotels and three Christian churches detonated explosive devices. Five hours later, two more explosions were reported near the capital city of Colombo, one at a low-budget inn and the other at a residential housing complex.