Sri Lanka attack: British IT director Lorraine Campbell feared dead after bombings, son says

Lorraine Campbell, has been described as "a wife, mother, sister and aunt, and a close friend to so many people, having risen through the ranks of the IT world, working in multiple cities in the UK and abroad"
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Bonnie Christian24 April 2019

An IT director from Manchester is feared to be the eighth British victim of the Sri Lanka terror attacks.

Lorraine Campbell, 55, was staying at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel on a business trip when the bombs were detonated on Sunday.

Her son Mark, 32, told the Daily Mail: "I have been told it is her. She has been taken in a terrible way."

Ms Campbell had relocated to Dubai last year with her husband and her son and said she had been anxious about travelling to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan security personnel walk through debris
AFP/Getty Images

“She had messaged me before the trip to say she was nervous about flying there because of Dengue fever,” he said.

“She was quite worked up about it but I told her she would be all right. I never thought something like this could happen.

“Mum was amazing. She touched everyone she met and all those people now have a huge hole in their lives.”

Police have appealed for anyone with images or video from the period surrounding the attack to contact them and officers have been sent to airports in the UK to speak to anyone returning from Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka bombings - In pictures

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Alexis Boon, of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: "We are specifically looking for images and footage taken at the scenes of the incidents in Sri Lanka, immediately prior to, during, or after the attacks on 21 April.

"The material will be looked at by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, to assess it for use in any subsequent coronial process."

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the series of attacks, which killed 359 people including 45 children and eight Britons.

Among the British victims were Anita Nicholson, her son Alex, 14, and daughter Annabel, 11, who died when one of nine suicide bombers struck as they ate breakfast at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo.

Anita Nicholson, who is feared dead in the Sri Lanka attacks, with husband Ben
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Londoner Matthew Linsey's daughter Amelie, 15, and son Daniel, 19, were killed in the same blast on the final day of their holiday.

GP Sally Bradley and her husband Bill Harrop, a retired firefighter, from Manchester, died in the Cinnamon Grand Hotel bombing.

MPs observed a minute's silence in the Commons on Tuesday in memory of those killed in the Sri Lanka terror attacks, with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt calling it a "truly heartbreaking situation".

Sri Lankan security personnel keep watch outside the church premises following a blast at the St. Anthony's Shrine in Kochchikade in Colombo.
AFP/Getty Images

He said that in addition to the eight Britons who died, a locally employed British Council employee was "in hospital with his wife, both with serious injuries".

Sri Lanka held a national day of mourning on Tuesday as the country's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned that suspects armed with explosives were still at large.

As the country paid its respects, the inquiry into what the intelligence services knew about the attack continued.

Ruwan Wijewardene, minister of defence, said "weakness" within Sri Lanka's security apparatus led to the failure to prevent the nine bombings.

He said :"By now it has been established that the intelligence units were aware of this attack and a group of responsible people were informed about the impending attack."

The president Maithripala Sirisena said that officials who failed to share information would face "stern action".

Mr Wijewardene said nine suicide bombers were behind the attacks and that eight had been identified so far. But 58 people have been arrested, including 18 more suspects overnight.

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