Popular TV Chef Shantha Mayadunne and daughter named among victims in Shangri-La explosion

Popular TV Chef Shantha Mayadunne and her daughter have been identified among the victims following the explosion at the Shangri-La hotel this morning.

Ms Mayadunne was the first chef to have a live television cooking show in Sri Lanka according to her website – she did this on the Independent Television Network. Shantha also ran the Shantha Mayadunne School of Cooking Art, in which she taught beginner’s classes, cake-decorating courses, and workshops to learn how to cook Chinese and Indian food. At the time of her demise, Ms. Mayadunne had thirty years of experience in the field of culinary arts and was one of the most popular television chef in Sri Lanka.

Her first, book  “Rasa Bojun,” came out in 2001, and her second, “Rasa Bojun – 2,” was released in 2005.

It is reported that she along with her family had gone to the Shangri-La hotel for breakfast at the time of the explosion.  Her daughter Nisanga had posted a selfie of the group sitting down to eat together shortly before the explosion, captioning it: ‘Easter breakfast with my family’.