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Balinese workers carry goods from their damaged shop near the site of the blast
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DENPASAR,
Indonesia, October 20 (News Agencies) - The terror attack in the
resort island of Bali was caused by three bombs, one of them inside a
nightclub and two outside another club, Indonesian police said Sunday,
October 20.
One
was placed inside the Padi club near a disc jockey’s stand and two
others outside the nearby Sari club in Kuta district, said national
police deputy spokesman Brigadier General Edward Aritonang in a
statement, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“The
source of the big blast is a Mitsubishi L-300 van,” he said. Previously
eyewitnesses had spoken of only two blasts in Kuta, with a car bomb
outside the Sari club causing most of the carnage.
The
spokesman said forensic experts are analyzing a motorcycle, two
Indonesian identity cards, a crash helmet and a glove recovered from
the blast site.
Investigators
have questioned 67 people about the attack but “no suspects have
been declared”, he said, adding tough, new anti-terrorist powers
would be used “as a reference” in the investigation.
The
emergency decree issued over the weekend authorizes the death penalty
for some terror acts and allows suspects to be held for up to six
months without trial.
The
official confirmed death toll from the October 12 blast is 187, but
Aritonang said 97 people were still missing as of Sunday.
It
was not clear if this was a definitive list. Australia alone has 73
missing and presumed dead in addition to 30 of its nationals confirmed
killed.
Australian
Federal Police officer Julian Slater said forensic experts were still
recovering human remains from the ruins of the Sari Club as of Sunday
afternoon but gave no details.
Slater,
the co-ordinator of the victims identification team, urged Indonesian
families who have not yet submitted DNA samples to do so as soon as
possible.
He
said items such as hairbrushes, toothbrush, used razors, lipsticks or
lip gloss and unwashed clothing belonging to missing people should be
submitted to the crisis center.
Last
week Slater said it could take months to complete formal
identification of all victims and some may never be identified.
Meanwhile,
the bomb attacks now threaten to devastate one of its main industries,
tourism, said AFP.
The
word “bangkrut”, or bankrupt, is now on the lips of the owners of
thousands of hotels, bars and shops, who fear a return to farm work or
building sites if the flood of holidaymakers dries up.
Thousands
of tourists poured out of Bali in the week after the October 12
car-bomb attack. Western governments have also withdrawn embassy staff
and warned their citizens not to visit Indonesia.
I
Made Ada, a receptionist at the Aquarius hotel close to the Padi and
Sari clubs that were wrecked in the attack, thinks he will be working
only every second week from now on.
“There
is nobody left in the hotel,” he said. “Yesterday we still had
five customers. The occupancy rate was 70 percent before the blast.
“For
the small people like the staff, what can we do?” He added: “If I
lose my job I will go back to my village, work in the fields.”
Most
families in Bali make their living from the tourists, who have
abandoned less lucrative farming work over the course of the years.
Swathes of paddy fields have been replaced by strips of hotels.
“If
I cry it won’t change the situation and there will be even less
clients,” said Jri Indah Wahyuni, who works in a tourist shop.
“The
sales dropped 95 percent since the explosion. Nobody is coming any
more.
Yesterday we had only one customer. He bought a pair of sandals at
four dollars. This is not enough to pay the salaries. We work
exclusively for the tourists. Before the blast, the business in the
last four months was good. I am very angry, the explosion happened at
the beginning of the tourist season.”
On
Sunday, for the fourth time in three days Australia issued a new
travel warning on Indonesia, telling visitors to avoid historical and
cultural locations for fear of terrorist attacks.
In
its latest report, the foreign ministry added resorts outside major
cities and historical and cultural locations including Borobodur to
the list of areas to be avoided.
It
reaffirmed that all travel to Bali, scene of the car bombing which
killed 180 people, more than 100 of them Australian, should be
deferred and non-essential travel to other parts of Indonesia
postponed.
“Australians
should be particularly careful in Jakarta, Balikpapan, Surabaya and
Yogyakarta,” the advice said.
It
told Australians to defer all non-essential travel within Indonesia
and to avoid commercial and public places frequented by Westerners,
including schools, places of worship, outdoor recreation events and
tourist areas.
It
explicitly told travelers to avoid Borobodur, a world heritage
Buddhist temple site in central Java.
The
ministry also warned Australians in Jakarta to avoid shopping and
entertainment areas including Kota, Taman Anggrek, Pasar Baru, Pasar
Senen and Jalan Hayam Wuruk.
Australia’s
government has drawn sharp criticism after admitting it had failed to
upgrade its travel warnings concerning Indonesia despite receiving
U.S. intelligence reports before the Bali bombing that tourist sites
on the island could be the target of terrorist attacks.
In
a survey published by the German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag,
three out of every four Germans would not vacation in a Muslim
country.
The
survey, conducted after at least 12 Germans have been killed this year
in terrorist attacks in Muslim countries, showed that 75 percent of
respondents said they would not spend their vacation in a Muslim
country.
Older
people were more likely to say no, with 87 percent of respondents over
the age of 60 responding negatively. Among people aged 18-29, 59
percent said they would not.
Women
were also less likely to vacation in a Muslim country, with 83 percent
saying they would not, compared with 67 percent of men.
One
German was killed in last week’s bomb blast on the Indonesian resort
island of Bali. Five Germans are still missing and six others were
injured.
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