Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church cancels Sunday mass over bomb attack fear

Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church said it hascancelled plans to resume Sunday services because of fears of fresh bomb attacks.

A spokesman for Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said Thursday the Church received "specific information of two possible attacks against churches," and it was decided to call off the on mass on May 5th.

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"On the advice of the security forces, we have decided not to have Sunday masses in any of the churches," the spokesman said.

The Church had planned to resume public services for the first time since the Easter Sunday attacks.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the Easter suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka has risen to 257, authorities said on Thursday.

They warned that the final number of dead from the April 21 attacks on three churches and three Colombo hotels would rise further.

"The death toll stands at 257 as of now," Anil Jasinghe, government director general of health services, said.

"The death toll slowly increased because there were some in-hospital deaths. There are some body parts as well so it is actually 257-plus."