Ned-Air2Air
1st Oct 2005, 20:00
Blasts hit Bali tourist spots
At least 23 people, including one Australian, have been killed in explosions in the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali.
Three near simultaneous explosions rocked tourist areas of Kuta and Jimbaran Beach, wounding scores of people, including three Australians.
A French diplomat who visited two hospitals in Bali said at least 32 people had been confirmed dead and 101 had been injured in the blasts, AFP has reported.
So far 12 bodies had been identified, includnig 10 Indonesians, one Australian and a Japanese national.
The blasts come almost exactly three years since two nightclubs were bombed in Bali's famous Kuta Beach in October 2002, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has condemned the Bali blasts as a terrorist act.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says he is finding it hard to get detailed information.
"There are reports that there could be between 30 and 40 injured and some reports are suggesting that there are nine or so dead but these numbers are very early and they could change significantly," he said.
"We know from experience the numbers unfortunately could turn out to be a good deal higher than that."
Mr Downer says it is safe to assume the Bali blasts were the work of terrorists.
"We think it's almost certainly a terrorist attack, I doubt that there's any other explanation for it, you could assume it's an attack by an organisation like Jemiaah Islamiah speaking from experience, but of course at this stage no one's claimed responsibility for the attack and we have no evidence."
People concerned about friends or relatives in Bali have been advised to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs hotline on 1800 0022 14.
Eyewitness accounts
Jason Childs is an Australian photographer who has been living in Bali for 12 years.
He was having dinner with friends and family not far from the blasts near the upmarket Four Seasons Hotel in Jimbaran Bay.
"We helped a few victims on the sand there on the beach and there were a few people lying on the fish cafes on the tables, which are out on the beach, dead," he said.
"I didn't want to walk in there too far, too scared another bomb would go off and everyone started screaming there's another bomb and everyone started running and I just ran home and have just come back here again now."
Mr Childs says he and his friends and family went to do what they could after the blasts in Jimbaran Bay before police arrived.
"There's ambulances, they've got tanks here, they've got dogs, I think what must have made it awfully hard for them was that as the bomb went off at Kuta ... if they went off at the same time, just splitting the emergency people and the soldiers and the police and everyone."
Daniel Martin, a tourist in Bali, says there was chaos after the blast in Kuta Square.
"There was thick smoke for a few minutes afterwards but there didn't seem to be any fire," he said.
"People were clambering onto the roof of the restaurant. It's about a three storey building so people were climbing out and screaming and jumping down to the street.
"It was pretty harrowing stuff."
Phonelines between Bali and other parts of the country were overloaded, as people struggled to contact friends and relatives in the area.
Peter Holden of Gosford on the central coast of New South Wales says he received an SMS message from his daughter Donna, who lives in Bali, telling him about the explosions.
Mr Holden says his daughter has reported several fatalities.
"There have been at least two bombs gone off in Jimbaran in restaurants and those kind of restaurants are restaurants populated by tourists in the main," Mr Holden said.
"And then a more recent report just a moment ago that there's also reports of another bomb in Kuta Square. That's a pretty busy tourist area," he said.
President condemns blasts
Dr Yudhoyono said it was too soon to blame anyone for the attacks, which security experts said bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiah, a network seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda.
"This is clearly a terrorist act ... We will catch the perpetrators and punish them," Dr Yudhoyono told an impromptu news conference in Jakarta, adding he would go to Bali on Sunday.
He noted that in July he had received information of an impending attack, with explosives ready to be detonated, but said that information showed the target would be Jakarta.
An Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Marty Natalegawa, says the Indonesian Government has remained on a high state of alert for any such attacks.
"Enhancement of security is done but their people they just need to be lucky once and they can force the kind of havoc that is potentially before us just now," he said.
"Again if anything, this latest episode illustrated that the threat of terror is very much with us not only in Indonesia but elsewhere in the world and we must not succumb."
The attacks pile on the problems for the former general, who marks his first year in office on October 20.
Dr Yudhoyono is also battling an outbreak of deadly bird flu and protests over sharp hikes in domestic fuel prices.
Bali, 960 kilometres east of Jakarta, is Indonesia's most popular destination for foreign tourists.
While the number of foreign tourists dropped sharply after the attacks three years ago, the island's key industry has since recovered.
The predominantly Hindu island is home to 3 million people and is famous for its beautiful beaches, rich culture and picture postcard landscapes of rice fields and volcanoes.
At least 23 people, including one Australian, have been killed in explosions in the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali.
Three near simultaneous explosions rocked tourist areas of Kuta and Jimbaran Beach, wounding scores of people, including three Australians.
A French diplomat who visited two hospitals in Bali said at least 32 people had been confirmed dead and 101 had been injured in the blasts, AFP has reported.
So far 12 bodies had been identified, includnig 10 Indonesians, one Australian and a Japanese national.
The blasts come almost exactly three years since two nightclubs were bombed in Bali's famous Kuta Beach in October 2002, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has condemned the Bali blasts as a terrorist act.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says he is finding it hard to get detailed information.
"There are reports that there could be between 30 and 40 injured and some reports are suggesting that there are nine or so dead but these numbers are very early and they could change significantly," he said.
"We know from experience the numbers unfortunately could turn out to be a good deal higher than that."
Mr Downer says it is safe to assume the Bali blasts were the work of terrorists.
"We think it's almost certainly a terrorist attack, I doubt that there's any other explanation for it, you could assume it's an attack by an organisation like Jemiaah Islamiah speaking from experience, but of course at this stage no one's claimed responsibility for the attack and we have no evidence."
People concerned about friends or relatives in Bali have been advised to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs hotline on 1800 0022 14.
Eyewitness accounts
Jason Childs is an Australian photographer who has been living in Bali for 12 years.
He was having dinner with friends and family not far from the blasts near the upmarket Four Seasons Hotel in Jimbaran Bay.
"We helped a few victims on the sand there on the beach and there were a few people lying on the fish cafes on the tables, which are out on the beach, dead," he said.
"I didn't want to walk in there too far, too scared another bomb would go off and everyone started screaming there's another bomb and everyone started running and I just ran home and have just come back here again now."
Mr Childs says he and his friends and family went to do what they could after the blasts in Jimbaran Bay before police arrived.
"There's ambulances, they've got tanks here, they've got dogs, I think what must have made it awfully hard for them was that as the bomb went off at Kuta ... if they went off at the same time, just splitting the emergency people and the soldiers and the police and everyone."
Daniel Martin, a tourist in Bali, says there was chaos after the blast in Kuta Square.
"There was thick smoke for a few minutes afterwards but there didn't seem to be any fire," he said.
"People were clambering onto the roof of the restaurant. It's about a three storey building so people were climbing out and screaming and jumping down to the street.
"It was pretty harrowing stuff."
Phonelines between Bali and other parts of the country were overloaded, as people struggled to contact friends and relatives in the area.
Peter Holden of Gosford on the central coast of New South Wales says he received an SMS message from his daughter Donna, who lives in Bali, telling him about the explosions.
Mr Holden says his daughter has reported several fatalities.
"There have been at least two bombs gone off in Jimbaran in restaurants and those kind of restaurants are restaurants populated by tourists in the main," Mr Holden said.
"And then a more recent report just a moment ago that there's also reports of another bomb in Kuta Square. That's a pretty busy tourist area," he said.
President condemns blasts
Dr Yudhoyono said it was too soon to blame anyone for the attacks, which security experts said bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiah, a network seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda.
"This is clearly a terrorist act ... We will catch the perpetrators and punish them," Dr Yudhoyono told an impromptu news conference in Jakarta, adding he would go to Bali on Sunday.
He noted that in July he had received information of an impending attack, with explosives ready to be detonated, but said that information showed the target would be Jakarta.
An Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Marty Natalegawa, says the Indonesian Government has remained on a high state of alert for any such attacks.
"Enhancement of security is done but their people they just need to be lucky once and they can force the kind of havoc that is potentially before us just now," he said.
"Again if anything, this latest episode illustrated that the threat of terror is very much with us not only in Indonesia but elsewhere in the world and we must not succumb."
The attacks pile on the problems for the former general, who marks his first year in office on October 20.
Dr Yudhoyono is also battling an outbreak of deadly bird flu and protests over sharp hikes in domestic fuel prices.
Bali, 960 kilometres east of Jakarta, is Indonesia's most popular destination for foreign tourists.
While the number of foreign tourists dropped sharply after the attacks three years ago, the island's key industry has since recovered.
The predominantly Hindu island is home to 3 million people and is famous for its beautiful beaches, rich culture and picture postcard landscapes of rice fields and volcanoes.