The estimated death toll in Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday terror attacks dropped by more than 100 on Thursday, a discrepancy that officials attributed to the extent to which some bodies were torn apart in the suicide bomb blasts.

The Sri Lanka Health Ministry now believes that “approximately” 253 people were killed in the coordinated explosions, or 106 fewer deaths than the 359 that authorities previously tallied.

“Some of the bodies get severely damaged in these kinds of explosions and it’s possible for some bodies to get completely destroyed or break into parts, making the identification of full bodies difficult,” said a ministry statement, according to CNN. “Hence, counting an exact death toll is challenging.”

There were also approximately 500 people injured in the blasts targeting hotels and churches packed for Easter Sunday, and the dead include dozens of children and foreigners, among them four Americans.

With Post wires