An attempt to set a world record in Sri Lanka for the largest gathering of twins appears to have failed after too many turned up.

The organisers of the event - Sri Lanka Twins - called on the island's twins to gather at a sports stadium in the capital, Colombo, to try to break Taiwan's Guinness World Record set in 1999.

The record then was 3,961 pairs of twins, 37 sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets together in one place.

But a bigger than expected crowd flocked to the stadium on Monday, causing long queues and meaning strict rules on registration were hindered.

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Twins turned up in expectation of a record... but there were long queues as birth certificates were checked...

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...with participants needing to pose for photographs and wait for at least five minutes.

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The organisers were aiming to break the world record, with 5,000 pairs of twins.

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There are 14,000 pairs of twins registered with the organisation in Sri Lanka, AFP reports.

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Two army generals, Jayantha and Pooraka Seneviratne...

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...led a contingent of twins from the Sri Lankan military.

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The organisers say the huge turnout meant they had probably been unable to meet the strict guidelines set by Guinness World Records...

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... although it will be two weeks before they find out if they qualified for the record or not.

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The organisers have vowed to set up another event, and many participants said they would be happy to try again.

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