In pictures: Bali Terror Bombings
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Reuters - Sat Oct 1,10:34 PM ET
A dinner table is swamped by the tide at the site of one of the bomb blasts that went off the day before, on Jimbaran Bay on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, October 2, 2005. Police investigating coordinated blasts on crowded restaurants on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed 25 people said on Sunday they were searching for clues to whether suicide bombers were to blame. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside -
AP - Sat Oct 1,10:35 PM ET
Local residents stand near one of the sites where explosions went off on Saturday night at Jimbaran bay, Bali, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005. Terrorists targeted the Indonesian tropical resort of Bali for the second time in three years Saturday with coordinated bombings that devastated seafood and noodle restaurants packed with foreigners, killing at least 25 people and wounding at least 100. (AP Photo /Dita Alangkara) -
Reuters - Sat Oct 1,10:39 PM ET
Dinner tables are swamped by the tide at the site of the bomb blasts that went off the day before, on Jimbaran Bay on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, October 2, 2005. Police investigating coordinated blasts on crowded restaurants on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed 25 people said on Sunday they were searching for clues to whether suicide bombers were to blame. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside -
AP - Sat Oct 1,10:45 PM ET
Balinese girls wait to greet arriving tourists with flowers at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005. Terrorists targeted the Indonesian tropical resort for the second time in three years Saturday night with coordinated bombings that devastated seafood and noodle restaurants packed with foreigners, killing at least 25 people and wounding at least 100. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) -
Reuters - Sat Oct 1,10:48 PM ET
An Indonesian policeman uses his baton to erect the police cordon at the site of one of the bomb blasts that went off the day before, on Jimbaran Bay on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, October 2, 2005. Police investigating coordinated blasts on crowded restaurants on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed 25 people said on Sunday they were searching for clues to whether suicide bombers were to blame. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside -
Reuters - Sat Oct 1,10:51 PM ET
Natalie Coulter, a tourist from Sydney, sits near the site of one of yesterday's bomb blasts that went off crowded beachside restaurants in Jimbaran Bay on the Indonesian resort island of Bali October 2, 2005. (Darren Whiteside/Reuters) -
TERROR ATTACK: Shattered glass litters a badly damaged shop in Bali, Indonesia, where two bombs went off almost simultaneously on Saturday night.-- AP -
Oct 2, 2005
Suicide bombers responsible for Bali blasts
BALI - Investigators on Sunday concluded that suicide bombers carried out the attacks on three crowded restaurants on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than a 100 others. A top anti-terror official said that two Malaysian fugitives were suspected of masterminding the strikes.
Two Australians and a Japanese were confirmed killed, along with 12 Indonesians in near simultaneous blasts that took place at the site of the 2002 Bali blasts. -- AFP
Major General Ansyaad Mbai said the three attackers went into the packed restaurants on Saturday evening wearing explosive vests. The remains of their bodies were found at the scenes, he said.
'I have seen them. All that is left is their head and feet,' he said. 'By the evidence we can conclude the bombers were carrying the explosives around their waists.'
Malaysian JI members key suspects
Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top, on Indonesia's most wanted lists since attacks on Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, are suspected in Saturday's blasts, said Maj-Ben Mbai.
'The modus operandi of Saturday's attacks is the same as the earlier ones,' he said.
The two - alleged to be key members of the Al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror group - were accused of orchestrating those blasts and a string of attacks that involved suicide bombers.
At least three foreigners were confirmed killed in the attacks, which occurred almost three years to the day after the Al-Qaeda linked JI group bombed a crowded Bali nightclub strip on Oct 12, 2002, killing 202 people, most of them foreigners.
'More strikes possible'
Indonesian President Suslio Bambang Yudhoyono warned more strikes were possible.
'We will hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice,' he said, said the president, who was scheduled to fly to Bali later on Sunday to look at the devastation first hand.
Western and Indonesian intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned the group was plotting more attacks despite a string of arrests. Last month, Dr Yudhoyono said he was especially worried the extremist network was about to strike.
Since the 2002 Bali blasts, JI has been tied to at least two other bombings in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. Those blasts, one at the J.W. Marriott hotel in 2003 and the other outside the Australian Embassy in 2004, killed at least 23.
Foreigners among dead
Saturday's near simultaneous blasts ripped through two packed seafood cafes on Jimbaran beach and a three-story noodle and steak house in downtown Kuta, the site of the 2002 blasts.
Sanglah Hospital, near the island's capital Denpasar, which took over the task of identifying victims, said 25 people were killed and 101 others were being treated at six hospitals.
Two Australians and a Japanese person were killed, along with 12 Indonesians. Hospital officials were trying to identify the nationalities of the 10 other corpses in the morgue, the hospital said in a statement.
Among the injured were 49 Indonesians, 17 Australians, six Koreans, three Japanese and two Americans, a hospital official said, adding that the others had yet to been identified.
Victims evacuated to Singapore for treatment
An international medical assistance company on Sunday began evacuating victims of the Bali bomb attacks to Singapore for treatment.
Two Australians were taken to Singapore on Sunday by air ambulance from Sanglah Hospital in Bali, International SOS said in a statement. They were accompanied by a specially-trained medical team.
'The victims sustained head and abdominal injuries but are in a stable condition. We expect to airlift a few more patients in the next 24 hours as we get a clearer picture of the victims' medical conditions,' said Dr. Philippe Barrault, deputy group medical director of International SOS.
The patients' identities were not disclosed.
The statement said 43 patients were treated in the International SOS Kuta clinic, while a team of seven emergency physicians and eight ICU nurses evacuated 16 patients to Singapore by air. -- AP, AFP -
NATIONS CONDEMN BALI BLASTS
KUALA LUMPUR - The world united on Sunday to condemn the suicide bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, as Malaysia hoped that its two citizens suspected to be the masterminds would be caught soon and brought to justice.
In a spontaneous show of solidarity for Indonesia, governments around the globe offered all help to overcome Saturday night's tragedy, the latest in a string of terrorist attacks in the world's most populous Muslim country in the past three years.
Australia offered medical and police aid, Britain sent an emergency assistance team, and the United States and New Zealand pledged to help in any way possible to catch the terrorists suspected in the three, near simultaneous blasts that killed at least 25 people and injured more than 100.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard condemned the bombings as 'an indiscriminate murderous attack'.
'I see it very much as part of an ongoing attempt by terrorists to undermine democratic Indonesia,' he said.
Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said the attack is 'a reminder that although weakened, terrorist groups remain a threat to our societies'.
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice condemned the bombings in a statement. 'The United States stands with the people and government of Indonesia as they work to bring to justice those responsible for these acts of terrorism.' she said.
White House spokesman Erin Healy said the US government was ready 'to assist in any way'. -- AP -
Oct 2, 2005
'It's a horrible scene... Some people have had their heads blown off
Mayhem at tourist paradise as bombs go off during peak dining hours
By Paul Zach
ST FOREIGN DESK
IT WAS the kind of balmy Saturday evening on Bali that has made the island a magnet for foreigners in search of paradise for more than a century.
Security forces assessing the damage at the Raja restaurant. Tourists were having dinner when a bomb went off on the second floor. -- EPA
Hundreds of them felt right at home as Indonesians in traditional Balinese dress greeted tourists in batik shirts and skirts at outdoor cafes, pubs and shops.
Others were already sipping drinks or tucking into lobsters.
Suddenly, their smiles turned to grimaces of pain, and their laughter and chatter exploded into screams.
'It's a horrible scene...Some people have had their heads blown off,' said Komang, the receptionist at Graha Asih Hospital who watched in horror as the victims were brought in.
Mr I Wayan Kresna said he witnessed the first blast at a crowded seafood restaurant on Jimbaran beach, near the posh Four Seasons Resort, whose villas line a cliff overlooking the bay.
He counted at least two dead and said many others were brought to a hospital.
'I helped lift up the bodies,' he told the El Shinta radio. 'There was blood everywhere.'
At least two explosions caused by bombs ripped through two areas in the resort district almost simultaneously around 7.30pm, a senior Bali police official said.
It was the hour when the Saturday night wining and dining crowd was just building up, at a time of the year when tourists - especially from Australia - flock to the island.
'Two bombs. One in Jimbaran and one in Kuta,' said the official, who declined to be identified, referring to two tourist areas on the island.
The BBC said four unexploded devices were also found at Jimbaran.
One security expert told the station the blasts were unlikely to have the same impact as the 2002 bombings which killed 202 people because cars are no longer allowed to park in the area.
Another explosion occurred at the Raja restaurant, a three-storey noodle and steak house in a bustling outdoor shopping centre in downtown Kuta, about 30km from Jimbaran.
A British tourist who was in a building next door to the restaurant that was hit in Kuta said there was a 'thunderous boom' that caused all the shop's windows to blow out.
'It was just chaos with no one really taking control,' Mr Daniel Martin told the BBC.
'There were no police or anyone else around for a good while. It was everyone pitching in to help the wounded.
'There were people lying in the street with serious wounds, blood pouring into the street...I was afraid to go into the restaurant for what I might see in there.'
Television images showed police with torches picking through the darkened interior of what appeared to be a badly damaged restaurant.
In other scenes, security forces were seen mingling with crowds of onlookers outside a clothing store that was shattered by the blast, its interior a jumble of broken shelves.
One scene showed what appeared to be a body covered by a bloodied blanket, while in another a man cried violently against the side of a van.
American tourist Maria Bakkalapulo, who arrived just after the blast, told CNN: 'The bomb exploded inside the restaurant. It's pretty much gutted.'
An Associated Press reporter at that scene said all three floors of the building were destroyed.
The sister of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby told the Australian Associated Press last night that most of the injured had been taken to Graha Asih Hospital, near Kuta.
At least three to four people had died there as she watched, Ms Mercedes Corby said. Between 30 and 40 others had been injured, she added.
Mr Brian Deegan, father of a victim of the Oct 12, 2002 Bali bombings, condemned the latest round of attacks on the Indonesian resort island as 'revolting'.
'It's just devastating,' he said by telephone from Adelaide. 'I know now that there are other dads out there and mums that are just going to join the queue and I just find this revolting.' -- Compiled from wire agencies -
WHERE THE BLASTS TOOK PLACE
JIMBARAN: Two explosions occurred here at 7.50pm at two crowded, beachside seafood restaurants, near the Four Seasons Hotel.
Only a 10-minute drive from Bali's airport, Jimbaran is well known for its fresh seafood. It is a popular spot for windsurfing and sailing small boats.
KUTA: Ten minutes later, and 30km away, another blast took place here, in the three-storey Raja restaurant at the Matahari Square shopping centre. The bomb apparently went off on the second floor of the restaurant.
With its spectacular sunsets, Kuta is a favourite haunt of tourists.
The area is the centre of nightlife activities in southern Bali and a shopping haven with rows of shops, boutiques and galleries.
The former fishing village was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist development and it is one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations. -
Oct 2, 2005
Three shocked Singaporeans recount their experiences
By Chua Kong Ho and Sarah Ng
BANK executive Doris Teo was in Kuta when she felt the shockwave from the blast: 'It was as if I was slapped in the face.'
Help is at hand for blast victims at a cafe on Jimbaran beach. The area, which is well known for its beach restaurants, is a popular windsurfing destination. -- GETTY IMAGES
Ms Teo, in her 30s, was at the Matahari department store in Kuta Town Square when the bomb went off around 7.30pm, Bali time.
Panic ripped through the store. 'My first thought was, Oh my God, is that a bomb?
'I asked the store's staff what happened but they too panicked,' she told The Sunday Times on the phone from her room at the Bali Garden Hotel last night.
'Everyone just dropped everything and ran for the exits.'
She and her dad were separated from her mum in the confusion. From the store's entrance, father and daughter could see what remained of a two-storey restaurant serving Western food.
'It had been packed as it was dinner-time. There was glass everywhere. I saw this Japanese woman and her daughter covered in blood. They looked like they were cut by the glass.'
Ms Teo did not step out onto the street because she feared there could be another bomb.
On the streets, people shouted and screamed. Some tried to help while others fled from the area.
After she found her mother, who had been pushed by the crowd to the rear exit, the Teo family walked back to their hotel.
Ms Teo said her family had planned to go to Jimbaran Bay for a seafood dinner tonight.
'It gives me goosebumps when I think about what could have been. Tonight too, we had delayed having dinner because we weren't hungry. We could very well have been in that Western restaurant.'
But she does not intend to cut short her holiday. 'I think at this moment, the best thing is for us to stay put in the hotel. Nobody can predict what will happen next.'
Mr K. Rajendran, 40, a manager with a construction company, was in Bali for business and had checked into the Aneka Beach Hotel in Kuta when the explosion went off.
Still, he went to a Japanese music festival in Nusa Dua. But the concert was stopped and he went back to his hotel, where he stayed 'glued to the TV watching CNN'.
Designer Marn Lim, 30, was in her room at Puri Bambu Hotel in Jimbaran, having dinner with her Taiwanese boyfriend, when she heard 'three loud explosions'.
The couple had arrived on Friday for a six-day stay.
'I am in shock because earlier in the day I was at Kuta Beach. And we were planning to go to Jimbaran for a seafood dinner, but to save money, we ordered room service instead.
'We turned on the TV at 11.30pm and when we saw the news, I initially thought it was about the 2002 Bali bombing. It didn't sink in until my mum, uncle and friends started SMSing and calling me.'
She will check today for a flight back to Singapore. -
HELPLINES FOR S'POREANS
SINGAPOREANS who are anxious about their friends or relatives in Bali can contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in touch with the Indonesian authorities on the bomb blasts.
The numbers to call are: 6379-8000 and 6379-8855. They can also get in touch with the ministry via fax: 6578-7302 or e-mail [email protected] -
FATAL BLOW: Saturday's blasts killed 25 people and also ripped a hole in Bali's tourism industry just as it was recovering from the terrorist attacks three years ago. -- AFP -
NO SINGAPOREAN CASUALTIES
There have been no confirmed reports of any Singaporean casualty in the Bali bomb blasts.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said most Singaporeans in Bali have been contacted and are confirmed to be safe.
Attempts are still being made to reach another 18 Singaporeans reported to be in the resort island.
Singaporeans with friends or relatives in Bali can contact:
MFA Duty Office
Tel: 6379 8800 or 6379 8855
Fax: 6476 7302
Email: [email protected]
Singapore Embassy in Jakarta
Tel: 001-62-21-520 1489 or 001-62-21-5296 1433
Fax: 001-62-21-520 2320
Email: [email protected] -
Two Australians and a Japanese were confirmed killed, along with 12 Indonesians, in the attack that took place at the site of the 2002 Bali blasts. -- AFP -
Reuters - Sun Oct 2,10:32 AM ET
A Hindu priest performs a cleansing ceremony for the victims of yesterday's bomb attack on a cafe in Kuta, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, October 2, 2005. Suicide bombers were behind the three attacks in Bali which killed 26 people and wounded 122 others, the resort island's police chief said on Sunday. REUTERS/Luis Ascui -
Reuters - Sun Oct 2,10:35 AM ET
Tourists stand near the scene of the bomb blast at Jimbaran in Bali October 2, 2005. Suicide bombers were behind the three attacks in Bali which killed 26 people and wounded 122 others, the resort island's police chief said on Sunday. REUTERS/Supri -
Reuters - Sun Oct 2,10:41 AM ET
A tourist walks past an armoured security vehicle near Kuta Square, one of two sites which were hit by bomb blasts, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali October 2, 2005. Suicide bombers were behind the three attacks in Bali which killed 26 people and wounded 122 others, the resort island's police chief said on Sunday. REUTERS/Luis Enrique Ascui -
Reuters - Sun Oct 2,10:43 AM ET
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono waves from his car after visiting Kuta Square, one of two sites which were hit by bomb blasts, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali October 2, 2005. Suicide bombers were behind the three attacks in Bali which killed 26 people and wounded 122 others, the resort island's police chief said on Sunday. REUTERS/Luis Ascui -
SEEKING TREATMENT: An Australian survivor, badly injured in Saturday's Bali explosions, arrives at the Singapore General Hospital on Sunday for treatment. -- AP -
HELL MAN I MEAN FUCK THE TERRORISTS TO HELL.......
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CLEANSING RITES: A religious ceremony was held at a square in Kuta, Bali, on Sunday to rid the place of evil after Saturday's suicide bombings. -- TERENCE TAN -
MINUTES LATER, BOOM: Moments after the man turns left to the bar area, a large explosion erupts there, catching diners unawares.
PANDEMONIUM ERUPTS: The explosion sparks off a fire and sends diners running helter-skelter into the streets. -- AP -
Oct 3, 2005
4-year-old who ran towards bomb dies
DENPASAR: A four-year-old Indonesian boy suffered major injuries to his lungs and heart after he unwittingly ran towards the bomb, a doctor said yesterday.p> 'He was having fun and running towards the bomb. His injuries were too severe for a boy of his age to survive,' Dr Mangatas Simamora said.
The boy, named Dafiansyah, died moments after he arrived at a Bali hospital.
He was having dinner with his parents at Jimbaran beach when the bomb went off. The parents suffered minor injuries. -- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE