Sri Lanka attacks – Three children of billionaire ASOS boss killed by suicide bombers
THREE children of billionaire ASOS boss Anders Holch Povlsen have been killed by suicide bombers in the Sri Lanka terror attacks.
A spokesperson for Povlsen – Scotland’s largest landowner – confirmed that three of his four children were among the 290 people killed after blasts hit churches and luxury hotels across the country on Sunday.
The Mirror reports that Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that three Danes were killed in the blasts.
The Danish billionaire, 46, has become Scotland’s largest landowner.
Mr Povlsen is also the biggest shareholder in the British online clothes shop Asos.com and second biggest shareholder in German firm Zalando.
Denmark’s Prime Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said in a press release that the terror attack filled him with pain and sorrow and that all of Denmark stood united with those families who had lost their loved ones.
Rasmussen added: “I can only condemn these disgusting terror actions, which are based on a grotesque view of humanity.
“Our fears that there are Danes among the victims have regrettably been confirmed.”
Berlingske in Denmark quoted Bestseller’s head of communications, Jesper Stubkier, who said: “Unfortunately, we can confirm that [the deaths of the three children in Sri Lanka].
“We ask you to respect privacy and we therefore have no further comment.”
Mr Povlsen owns 12 estates, including Glenfeshie in the Cairngorms, totalling more than 220,000 acres, through his company Wildland Ltd.
In an interview with The Times this month, he and his wife, Anne, 40, said their vision for the land would be entrusted to their four children.
Five Brits were killed in the terror attacks at churches and hotels in Colombo – where tourists were eating breakfast and Christian worshippers were gathered for Mass.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
- At least 290 people killed and 500 injured after seven suicide bombers attacked three churches, four hotels and a block of flats in Colombo
- Five Brits, ‘several’ Americans, one Dutch, one Chinese, two Turkish and one Portuguese national have been confirmed dead
- Theresa May brands attack “truly appalling” as world leaders express sorrow
- Social media ban in place to prevent spread of misinformation, and night curfew imposed
- 13 terrorists arrested, says defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene
- It comes ten days after Sri Lanka’s police chief issued alert on possible attacks to come
- A six-foot pipe bomb was intercepted and destroyed by the Air Force on the way to Colombo International Airport
KEY INFO MISSED
No one has claimed responsibility, but the Sri Lankan military received intelligence suggesting the Islamic terror group National Thowheeth Jama’ath was planning suicide attacks on churches before the bombing.
This key intelligence was not passed on to the Sri Lankan government just days before the attacks.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Sri Lankan prime minister, acknowledged that “information was there” about possible attacks.
He added that “we must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken”.
It emerged Sri Lanka’s police chief Pujuth Jayasundara warned cops of suicide bombers planning to hit “prominent churches” 10 days before yesterday’s attack.
The US State Department has warned that “terrorist groups” are continuing to plot possible attacks at tourist locations, transportation hubs, shopping malls, hotels, places of worship, airports and other public areas in Sri Lanka.
ISIS supporters have been celebrating the attacks.