Relatives and friends gathered in churches and cemeteries to remember some of the more than 320 people killed in bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

The first mass burials for the victims took place in Colombo and in Negombo, north of the capital, on Tuesday.

Mourners and relatives prayed with the clergy as coffins were carried in and out of the churches.

At St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo – where scores died as they gathered for Easter Sunday prayers – a few dozen people held candles and prayed silently, palms pressed together.

And at St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, an elderly man wept uncontrollably by the coffin bearing the body of his wife.

Flags were lowered to half-mast on government buildings, and people bowed their heads and reflected silently on the violence that has caused international outrage.

The island nation’s state defence minister said initial investigations showed that the attacks were carried out by two little-known Muslim organisations.

The death toll from Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombings has reached 321 with many people still in hospital.

At least 500 people were wounded in the blasts, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said in a statement, adding that 40 people were now under arrest in connection with the attacks.

Tuesday was a national day of mourning in Sri Lanka.