ARN News Centre

Trump tweets, then deletes, widely inflated Sri Lanka death toll

Monday, 22 April 2019 08:44

US President Donald Trump committed faux pas as he erroneously wrote that "138 million people" were killed in the Sri Lanka bombings.

In a Tweet, he expressed condolences to families of the victims of the Sri Lanka explosions - and grossly overstated the death toll.

He wrote: "Heartfelt condolences from the people of the United States to the people of Sri Lanka on the horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels that have killed at least 138 million people and badly injured 600 more. We stand ready to help!"

Within minutes, he deleted the incorrect tweet and sent a new one with the corrected death toll.

More from International

Russia takes Ukrainian town in advance on Pokrovsk

Russia said on Sunday that its forces had taken full control of a town in eastern Ukraine as Moscow's forces advance on the strategically important city of Pokrovsk and seek to pierce the Ukrainian defensive front lines.
Three killed in West Bank shooting

A gunman killed three Israeli civilians in an attack near the Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan before security forces shot him dead on Sunday, Israeli authorities said.
Typhoon Yagi weakens after killing dozens

Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year, was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday, after wreaking havoc in northern Vietnam, China's Hainan and the Philippines, claiming dozens of lives, according to preliminary reports.
Manhunt underway in US after Kentucky highway shooting

Kentucky police were searching rugged terrain near a national forest for a suspect after at least seven people were wounded by gunfire while driving down the rural stretch of an interstate highway, officials said on Saturday evening.
Meloni defends government after Italian culture minister quits over scandal

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government had not been weakened by a controversy over a consultancy role offered to the former lover of a minister who resigned after a tearful televised apology.