October 13 2002
Terror attack ... Rescue workers arrive at the blazing nightclub in Bali. Photo: Reuters.
Two bomb blasts destroyed a night club overnight on the tourist island of Bali, killing 60 people and injuring about 120 others, police and hospital workers said.
A doctor at Sanglah hospital in the Bali capital Denpasar said that many of those treated at the hospital were still in a critical condition and that bodies were still arriving at the hospital.
The doctor, who gave her name as Darma, identified one of the casualties who died from injuries after being brought to the hospital as a New Zealander.
Police had no immediate motive for the blasts, which occurred nearly simultaneously.
"The bodies just keep arriving here. It's difficult to identify them but most of them are foreigners," a morgue attendant, who identified himself as Wayan, told AFP by telephone.
One bomb exploded about 100 metres from the US consular office in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, said Lieutenant Colonel Yatim Suyatno, a police spokesman.
There were no casualties in that blast, which occurred at 11.05pm (0105 AEST), he said.
The other bomb destroyed the Sari Club, a popular nightspot frequented by foreigners in the resort of Kuta Beach, killing 54 people, said Wayan Suwena, an official at the Sanglah Hospital morgue in Denpasar.
Police said 15 foreigners were among the dead but their identities or their nationalities were not available.
The ABC said 20 team-mates from Perth's Kingsley Football Club were in the club at Kuta Beach when the blast occurred. It said eight of them were missing.
ABC Radio said there were also people from Australian AFL and Rugby clubs at the scene of the blast.
Two members of Geelong football club who had been unaccounted for had now turned up at the hotel safe, ABC reported.
An Australian consular official said he could confirm that Australians were involved, but he couldn't confirm any deaths.
The foreign affairs department has established two numbers for people to ring if they are concerned about relatives in Bali. The numbers are 1800-002-214 and 1300-555-135.
"We don't know if these blasts are connected," said a US embassy spokeswoman in Jakarta who declined to be identified.
She said she didn't know if there were any Americans among the casualties.
About 120 people were injured and were being treated in area hospitals and clinics, said officials at Sanglah hospital in Denpasar, 1,000km east of Jakarta.
At least five Britons were among the injured, the British consulate in Indonesia said. The Press Association said nine Britons had been injured.
White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said Washington was monitoring the situation and working with Indonesian authorities.
The explosion at the Sari Club was accompanied by a large fire that engulfed another nightclub nearby, eyewitnesses said.
Several other buildings and a dozen cars were damaged.
Suyatno said a police bomb squad was investigating the explosions.
Reuters reported police as saying the blasts were caused by homemade bombs.
Police and the military are "severely restricting" access in and out of Bali from Denpasar's Ngurah Rai airport and ports in Benoa, Gilimanuk and Padang Bai on Bali's east coast, Suyatno said, according to a report carried by the state-run Antara news agency.
Bali is Indonesia's premier resort island. Although Indonesia has been wracked by ethnic and religious violence since the overthrow four years ago of former dictator Suharto, Bali itself has remained quiet.
Last night's bombings are likely to be a huge blow to Indonesia's lucrative tourism industry and might also undermine government efforts to revive the economy.
The blasts came just hours after a small handmade bomb went off near the Philippine Consulate in the port city of Manado on the central island of Sulawesi, about 2,160km north-east of Jakarta.
It broke three window panes on the building, but caused no casualties.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Henjke Kuwara said the small explosive device had been planted at the fence of building.
Police had sealed off the area and were investigating.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. It wasn't clear whether the explosions in Bali were related to the Manado blast.
Two years ago, a blast in front of the Philippine residence in Jakarta killed two people and injured dozens, including that country's ambassador.
Indonesian officials have in the past denied that militants linked to al-Qaeda are active in the country.
However, authorities in Malaysia and Singapore have claimed that members of a group known as Jemaah Islamiyah - said to be seeking to set up an Islamic state in South-East Asia - are based in Indonesia.
Singapore has been pressing Indonesia to arrest Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, who lives in Indonesia.
But Indonesian officials say they have no evidence against him.
AP and AFP
-- Anonymous, October 12, 2002