Three children of Asos tycoon killed in Sri Lanka massacre

The billionaire owner of online fashion giant Asos has lost three of his four children in the Sri Lanka bombing attacks.

A spokesperson for Anders Holch Povlsen, Denmark’s richest man, confirmed this morning that three of the retail tycoon’s children were killed in yesterday’s Easter massacre.

"I can confirm that three children have been killed. We have no further comment and we ask that the family’s privacy is respected at this time," a communications manager for Povlsen told Press Association.

Estimated to be worth more than £6bn, the Danish businessman behind Asos also owns a swathe of Scottish estates and is one of Britain’s largest private landowners.

Officials have also said today that the suicide attacks had the support of an international network, with the government blaming a local jihadist group known as National Thowheed Jamath.

The death toll currently stands at 290, with more than 500 victims also wounded as a result of the terror attacks on churches and five-star hotels.

Eight British nationals, including a mother and her son, are among the dead, Sir Lanka’s High Commissioner to the UK has said.