Indonesia: Deadly Bomb Blasts in Jakarta

Indonesian police said bomb explosions at two hotels in Jakarta’s business district left at least nine dead and some 42 injured.

Foreigners were among those killed in the early morning attacks.

Windows were shattered by strong explosives at both the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, located near each other.

Witnesses said they heard an explosion and saw smoke coming from the Marriott, the site of a car bomb attack in 2003 that killed 12 people.

[Fernando, Hotel Guest]:
„I heard a bomb first, at the Marriott, the bomb at 10 to 8, and a lot of people crying. And 10 minutes after a bomb in the hotel. The building moved a lot and we start to hear alarms. So I went out to hotel and in the lobby the building was destroyed and a lot of glass everywhere. And some people were going out with a lot of blood and very bad situation.“

This is the first major blast in several years in the world’s most populous Muslim country.

The presidential elections earlier this month had passed peacefully.

Islamist militants from the regional Jemaah Islamiah organisation had been blamed for numerous attacks from 2002 to 2005, including deadly bombings on the island of Bali.

An Australian security report on Thursday said Jemaah Islamiah could be poised to strike again, while Canberra issued a fresh travel warning on Friday after the Jakarta bomb attacks.

(NTDTV)