COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Hour by hour the death toll from Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombing attacks climbed. The number of bombings and suspects also rose. A government block on most social media added to the confusion about the scope of the coordinated suicide bombings in and around the capital, Colombo.

And then on Thursday the death toll sharply dropped.

It was the latest in a pattern of claims and counterclaims that have muddled the investigation into the Islamic State group-claimed attacks and called into question the government's ability to handle it, as suspects with possible access to explosives are said to remain at large.