Celebrity chef Shantha Mayadunne and her daughter Nisanga Mayadunne killed in the Easter Sunday attacks.
Minutes before a bomb ripped through the Shangri-La Hotel on Easter, a Sri Lankan celebrity chef's daughter posted a picture on Facebook of her family enjoying breakfast at the hotel, one of the eight targeted places on Sunday.
Nisanga Mayadunne, daughter of celebrity TV chef Shantha Mayadunne, shared the picture at 8:47 AM on Sunday, with the accompanying caption "Easter breakfast with family".
The chef and her daughter were among the hundreds killed in the deadly devastating bomb blasts that ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka, killing 290 people, including dozens of foreigners on Sunday.
One of Nisanga's friends, Radha Fonseca told Gulf News that "destiny has taken away both of them and I am devastated."
"Nisanga was a very popular girl in college. Besides the fact that she was bright and smart, her mother Shantha Mayadume, a renowned chef, made her more popular in college. She (the mother) was well respected and an inspirational chef for Sri Lankans," Fonseca was quoted as saying.
"When I heard the news, I was left numbed and shocked. I don't know what more to say," she added.
Meanwhile, Radhika Sarathkumar, a Chennai resident, had a close shave as she checkout of the hotel she was staying just minutes before the blasts rocked Sri Lanka.
"OMG bomb blasts in Sri Lanka, god be with all. I just left Colombo Cinnamongrand hotel and it has been bombed, can't believe this shocking," she tweeted.
On Monday, Sri Lanka police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara said that 24 people, mostly locals, have been arrested in connection with the deadly explosions which injured around 500 people on Sunday.