32 killed in Bali blasts

JAKARTA: At least 32 people were killed and 101 injured in a series of bomb blasts in the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday, a French embassy official said after visiting two hospitals.

The official, who declined to be identified, said he had verified there were 21 bodies at the Sanglah hospital and 11 more at the Griya Asih hospital.

The first explosion occurred at 1200 GMT in the Jimbaranarea of Bali in front of beachside coffee shops, local policeman Nyoman Suwita said. ElShinta radio quoted an eyewitness identified as Bagas as saying he saw eight bodies at the Jimbaran blast site, including four foreigners and two Indonesian women.

He also told ElShinta dozens of people were wounded. Minutes later another blast also took place in front of coffee shops at the Matahari Square shopping centre in the popular beach resort area of Kuta, Suwita said.

An eyewitness there told ElShinta he saw many body parts, including an arm lying in the ruins of a cafe. “The explosion in Bali is reported to have taken place in a very crowded area, so if obviously it is confirmed to be a bomb, then it is aimed at causing as much casualties and as many victims as possible,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told the BBC. But he said the blasts appear to be less powerful than the 2002 nightclub bombings.

“At this time we are very much trying to secure the area, and trying to save those who have been injured,” he said, adding that the two blasts occurred about 10 minutes apart. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had called for tighter security in the world’s most populous Muslim nation during September and October, saying these appeared to be favoured months for terror acts.

He said the possibility of more attacks remained real since two of the key bombers accused of being behind the Bali attacks, Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top, remain on the loose. agencies

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