Mum Anita and children Alex and Annabel all died in the blasts (Picture: Facebook/ EPA/ AP)
The daughter of a British mum killed in the Sri Lanka bombings alongside her son has been confirmed dead. Anita and Ben Nicholson had been eating breakfast with their children Annabel, 11, and Alex, 14, at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, when two suicide bombers blew themselves up. She and Alex were both killed in the blasts and Annabel was believed to be missing – but it was later revealed that she also lost her life.
Ben, the only one from the family to survive, said in a statement today that ‘mercifully’ his wife and children all died instantly ‘with no pain or suffering’. In the heartbreaking message, he continued: ‘I am deeply distressed at the loss of my wife and children. Anita was a wonderful, perfect wife and a brilliant, loving and inspirational mother to our two wonderful children. ‘The holiday we had just enjoyed was a testament to Anita’s enjoyment of travel and providing a rich and colourful life for our family, and especially our children. ‘Alex and Annabel were the most amazing, intelligent, talented and thoughtful children and Anita and I were immensely proud of them both and looking forward to seeing them develop into adulthood.
The family had been holidaying in Sri Lanka (Picture: Anita Nicholson/ Facebook)
Dad Ben Nicholson survived the attacks (Picture: Anita Nicholson/ Facebook)
‘They shared with their mother the priceless ability to light up any room they entered and bring joy to the lives of all they came into contact with.’ He thanked medical teams in Colombo for treating Anita, Alex and Annabel, as well as treating him with ‘kindness and sympathy’. The Nicholsons worked as lawyers based in Singapore, according to their online profiles, and had been on holiday in Sri Lanka for a week when the attacks took place.
Earlier today it was reported that Ben had been walking through the city ‘covered in blood’ with a cut to his ear shortly after the Pushpa Zoysa, who is in charge of the emergency triage at the National Hospital in Colombo, told the MailOnline: ‘He was not running or crying, he was shocked. ‘We wondered whether he was confused but he seemed in control. He just kept asking about his family members. ‘He was walking around completely alone and I feel sorry for him but there were so many dead and dying people here, I didn’t have time to speak to him more. Eventually he left.’
Anita was described as a ‘wonderful, perfect wife’ by husband Ben (Picture: Anita Nicholson/ Facebook)
He said they were looking forward to watching their children grow up (Picture: Anita Nicholson /Facebook)
A medical expert described seeing vehicles arrive ‘full of body parts (Picture: AFP)
Ms Zoysa also described the chaos of treating the many victims of the attacks, recalling ‘vehicles arriving full of body parts and badly injured people’. Eight blasts ripped through the country’s capital on Easter Sunday, targeting Christians, hotel guests and foreign tourists. Today the death toll jumped up to 290 people, while more than 450 were injured.
Among at least 35 foreign nationals killed in the blasts were three children of Asos billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen. A spokesman for Povlsen, Denmark’s richest man, confirmed the deaths but did not say which of his four children died. Just days before, his daughter Alma had shared a photo of her siblings Astrid, Agnes and Alfred enjoying themselves by the pool. Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq has said she had lost a relative in the attacks.
The death toll from the attacks is now at 290 (Picture: EPA)
There are more than 450 injured (Picture: AP)
The Shangri-La was targeted by suicide bombers (Picture: Getty Images)
The majority of the dead are from Sri Lanka *(Picture: Getty Images)
She posted on Twitter: ‘It’s all so devastating. Hope everyone is keeping safe. Solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka.’ The bombings are being treated as a terrorist attack by religious extremists and police have arrested 13 but there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there was ‘lots of speculation at the moment but there is no hard knowledge’ about the perpetrators of the atrocity. He added that ‘we obviously need to wait for the police in Sri Lanka to do their work’ and said the UK will offer their support in the days to come. Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.
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