-Kelly-

Blast hits Australian embassy
By staff writers and wires
September 9, 2004

AT LEAST three people are believed dead after a bomb exploded by the Australian embassy in Jakarta today.


Fatal ... a body lies in the foreground as chaos hits the bomb scene / Reuters


The source of the 10.15am (1.15pm AEST) blast is not immediately known though there are reports of at least three lifeless bodies outside the embassy compound.

Four cars and the high metal fence surrounding the Australian embassy were damaged. The windows of surrounding buildings were smashed.

A severed human leg was lying on Rasuna Said street.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it had not been established that the embassy was the target of the blast though "it was sufficiently close to have blown off the front gates" of the compound.

She could not say if there were Australians killed or injured in the bombing.

The blast prompted the immediate evacuation of the embassy and caused a sharp drop on the Jakarta stock market.

ElShinta radio station quoted a witness saying a police truck and a taxi in front of the embassy had been blown apart and the high steel fence surrounding the building in the Kuningan business and residential district was damaged.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group has been blamed for several high profile bomb attacks in Indonesia including the August 2003 attack on Jakarta's Marriott Hotel and the October 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali.

Police were not immediately available for comment.

In recent weeks several Western embassies, including those of the United States and Australia, have warned their citizens about possible attacks by Muslim militants.

Last year, 12 people died in a suicide attack on the JW Marriott hotel in the same district. In 2002, more than two hundred people died in an attack on two nightclubs on the tourist island of Bali.

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Not again

Goonieforever

This makes me sad.

*Lauren

Its been confirmed that all the embassy staff are OK, but it could have been Australians outside the embassy.

Indri

Untill now confirm 4 people kill in that Bomd 2 body already know the identity, I think most victim ist Indonesian people

Errrghh I hate this happend again in my cities, and this is suck because this must a lot of traffic to go home this day

I just hear my boss want buy U$ but eeeekk they already so high hmm the last update 1 $ already 9,500 Idr

Aussie bubbles

7 have now been confirmed with over 200 injured.

I just don't want another repeat of the bali bombings - that was too close to home and so hard on too many people (including myself)
I do believe it has also been confirmed that no Australians have been killed...

Lady_Amabel

Why do these things have to happen? I just cant comprehend the mentality behind these acts.

Elizajoey

I happened to be in the RTA today when I heard about it.

It seemed like absolute chaos and my heart really goes out to the victims.

I really hope we dont turn the situation into a whole 'attack against Australia' as happened with Bali because it seemed the casualties at the moment appear to all be Indonesian so to turn it into that would simplify and insult those people's deaths.

Sara

*Lauren

The problem is, it was outside the Australian embassy. Its pretty obvious who was intended to be hurt. Apparently if we hadn't had reinforcements done recently, there could have been Australians killed.

*Ledi*

oh geez.

me neither.

Aussie bubbles

A 5 year old Australian girl is amoungst the injured.
It is so worrisom... It just gets closer to Australia - first Bali and now our Embassy...

-Kelly-

I heard that she just came an australian and was getting her new passport for the first time

Aussie bubbles

Father focus on seeing daughter
September 10, 2004

THE Sydney father of a girl critically injured in the Jakarta bombing today thanked Australians for their good wishes and said his priority was getting to his daughter's bedside.


Devastation ... the scene outside the Australian embassy / AP


Dave Norman, a police constable based at Marrickville station, lost his wife in the bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta yesterday.

His five-year-old daughter, Elisabeth Manuela Bambina Musu – who he calls Manny – was critically injured.

"I appreciate the thoughts and well-wishes from members of the public across NSW and Australia during this extremely traumatic time," Const Norman said.

"My focus is on getting on a plane as quickly as possible so I can be at the bedside of my daughter, Manny, to ensure she gets all the love and care she needs."

The little girl was going to the Australian embassy in Jakarta with her Indonesian mother Maria when the blast occurred at 10.15am (1315 AEST) yesterday.

Her mother was one of nine people killed in the explosion, which injured about 180 people.

Elisabeth's injuries were so bad it was initially thought she was dead, but once it was realised she was still alive, she was given emergency treatment on the scene.

She had been about to pick up her Australian passport after becoming an Australian citizen on September 1.

Mr Norman also thanked the public for their condolences over the loss of his partner who died at the scene.

"On behalf of Maria's family in Indonesia, I also want to thank people for their thoughts in the hours following her death," he said.

"I ask that members of the public and media please respect my privacy and give my family the space we need to grieve for my partner, Maria."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the girl was being medically evacuated to Singapore today for further treatment.

Katis

Why do people think they will gain from doing things like this? So they tried to attack Australia and ended up killing innocent people standing outside? Injuring children? Ugh.

Aussie bubbles

Who thinks this is happening so Australians won't vote for John Howard oin the election?
Because Latham wants to pull the troops out doesn't he?

Aussie bubbles

Australian survivors 'a miracle'
By Rob Taylor in Jakarta
September 10, 2004

FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has toured the scene of yesterday's embassy bombing in Jakarta and says it is a miracle no Australians were killed.


Inspecting ... Alexander Downer walks past the Australian coat of arms, blown off the building / AP


Mr Downer said the explosives used in the embassy attack were more powerful than devices which killed 202 people in the Bali bombings, but lives were spared because of heavy security.

"I am advised that the bomb used here was larger than the bomb used in Bali, but of course you cannot make comparisons, in the sense that a total of 202 people were killed in Bali," Mr Downer said.

Nine people were killed and at least 180 were injured when a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy at about 10.15am local time on Thursday.

Among the injured was a five-year-old Australian girl whose Indonesian mother was killed in the blast. The child's Australian father is on his way to Jakarta. (Girl critical)

Meanwhile, Indonesian security staff have told of the horrifying moments leading up to the attack.

"I saw just a glimpse. We saw someone coming in and then, wham! just like that, there was thunder, and glass everywhere," security guard Abdul Amsar said.

Amsar was today being treated for cuts to most of his body caused by flying glass.

"I was outside, outside the gate, and there were three of us out there, while inside there were another two," he said.

"I myself was not burned, but there were bodies on the ground." (Guards recount ordeal)

Mr Downer today paid tribute to the security guards who lost their lives protecting Australians.

"I think the Australian workers in the embassy have been very lucky that none of them has died," Mr Downer said.

"They have been well protected both by the security at the embassy itself, but also the Indonesians outside the embassy who provided the right sort of security.

"Our hearts go out to all those Indonesians who were killed ... to all those Indonesian families," he said. (Security stepped up in Asia)

Australian Federal Police forensic experts dressed in blue overalls arrived at the embassy this morning to begin investigating the cause of the blast.

Mr Downer said it was too early to know who was behind the bombing, but all indications were that it was Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

Indonesian police chief Dai Bachtiar said last night the attack bore the hallmarks of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah group and its key bomb experts, Malaysians Azahari Hussein and Nordin Top.

The two men are believed to have masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings and last year's attack on Jakarta's Marriott Hotel.

"Our suspicion is that it was by the same group, especially the bomb maker, Dr Azahari. This is what we can conclude from the modus operandi and our investigation," General Bachtiar said.

The Islamic terrorist group is purported to have claimed the attack in an internet statement, warning that Australia should pull its troops out of Iraq.

But Mr Downer said the claim had yet to be verified.

"We don't know whether this website is credible and obviously that's being analysed by our intelligence people," Mr Downer said.