JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- A powerful car bomb has hit central
Jakarta near the Australian Embassy, killing at least six people
and wounding nearly 100.
The explosion -- which CNN Correspondent Maria Ressa said was "far
larger" than a blast which killed 12 in the JW Marriot Hotel in the
same district last year -- went off four meters (12 feet) away from
the embassy's gate, leaving a crater three meters deep.
Most of the deaths occurred just outside the 6-meter (20-foot) high
steel gate, which was mangled in Thursday morning's blast.
The explosion shattered nearly all the windows in seven surrounding
high-rise buildings while offices several blocks away also suffered
damage.
Witnesses said they saw a car drive past slowly and then explode.
The blast was so strong it threw one body towards the center of a
four-lane highway nearby, and body parts were strewn around the
streets. (Full story)
Hundreds of police tried to manage a chaotic scene as ambulances,
fire trucks, wounded people and bystanders crowded amid the debris
of burnt out cars and shattered windows.
Witnesses reported hearing the blast as far as six miles (10
kilometers) away, in the latest of a spate of attacks that has hit
the world's fourth most populous nation.
Security officials told The Associated Press an Indonesian guard
manning a post outside the gate was among those who died in the
explosion, which struck at 10:15 a.m. (0315 GMT).
"The ground shook so hard I fell down. A huge column of white smoke
rose up," said Joko Triyanto, a security guard, his arms bleeding
from shrapnel wounds.
Three men wearing what appeared to be guard uniforms lay on the
ground with bloodied faces, but seemed to be alive, Ressa
reported.
The fortress-like Australian Embassy building is on Rasuna Said
Road, one of central Jakarta's busiest roads, which is lined with
office towers, embassies and hotels.
Video of the blast site showed rescue workers carrying out the
injured on stretchers to a nearby hospital as helicopters circled
overhead.
Police have cordoned off the area and sent in a bomb squad to
search for more explosive devices.
A series of smaller blasts followed the major explosion and police
set up checkpoints to keep people away from the area in case of
further explosions.
Warnings issued
The Australian embassy has been evacuated, with Prime Minister John
Howard saying all of the embassy's Australian staff have been
accounted for, although some sustained minor injuries.
Several countries including the United States and Australia had
warned their citizens about possible attacks by militants in recent
weeks.
Australia is a close ally of the United States in its war on terror
and it has never suffered a major terror attack on home soil.
But 88 Australians were among 202 killed in October 2002 in
nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali.
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a militant group with ties to Osama bin
Laden's al Qaeda network that is trying to set up a pan-Islamic
state in Southeast Asia, has been linked to the Bali blast as well
as the JW Marriot attack last year.
No one has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, but
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who plans to travel
to Jakarta Thursday, said initial suspicions fall on JI. (Full
story)
The blast was "clearly a terrorist attack" aimed at Australia,
local media reported Downer as saying.
Last Friday, Australia warned that "particular caution should be
exercised in Jakarta, including the central business and embassy
districts," and said that security at its embassy in the capital
remained at a high level.
Australians have been warned to defer all non-essential travel to
Indonesia.
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who was in neighboring
Brunei Thursday to attend a royal wedding, cut short her stay and
was returning to Jakarta, officials said.
Jakarta shares fell more than three percent on Thursday morning.
(Full story)
