TAMPA, Fla. — Members of Tampa Bay's Sri Lankan community came together Monday night to honor and remember the victims of the Easter bombings.
- Tampa's Sri Lankan community remember victims of Easter bombings
- Nearly 300 killed, at least 500 wounded in bombings
- RELATED:
About a dozen people gathered at the Sunshine Meditation Center, a Buddhist Temple, to give offerings, chant, and meditate.
Nearly 300 people were killed and at least 500 were wounded in the bombings on April 21, 2019.
"Some of the people who are attending the ceremony, they are friends or friends or some family friends that have been lost during these attacks," said Viraj De Silva who attended the service.
Although Sri Lanka's minority Christian community appeared to be the target, people at the service call it an attack on humanity in general.
"It is important as a community. Sri Lankan's are like a close family, it doesn't matter which religion. We thought we needed to come together to give them courage as well as to help the fellow Sri Lankan's back home," said De Silva.
They said it breaks their hearts to see violence erupt after nearly a decade of peace in their country.
The Monk who led the service said it's important to focus on our similarities instead of our differences.