Atrium blast related to earlier bombings: Police

JAKARTA (JP): City police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Yacob voiced belief on Thursday that the Atrium Plaza bombing in Central Jakarta was related to blasts under the Slipi flyover, West Jakarta, and at two churches in East Jakarta.

"The earlier blasts had something in common with the Atrium bombing, in that pellets were used in the bombs," Sofjan told reporters.

Six people were injured in the explosion in the six-story shopping plaza in Senen on Wednesday evening. The explosion under a flyover in Slipi occurred on July 15, while bombs detonated on July 22 in the Santa Anna church in Duren Sawit and the Protestant Batak Church (HKBP) in Makassar district.

Commenting on the accusation that the police had failed to protect the city from bombings, Sofjan said the police had tried to prevent such incidents.

"But we cannot watch every space in the city," he said.

City police spokesman Sr. Com. Anton Bahrul Alam said the police had questioned 16 witnesses, but no suspect had yet been named.

Meanwhile, three of the six people hospitalized after the Atrium bomb blast were released from Gatot Subroto Army Hospital on Thursday morning.

One of those in the hospital, Dodi, is in intensive care after having his right leg amputated.

According to nurse Merry Silaban at the hospital, Dodi is in shock but is in a stable condition. His breathing is being assisted by a respirator.

She said that Dodi claimed to be a resident of Kebagusan Kecil, South Jakarta.

All three of those in the hospital are being tightly guarded by the police, with only their immediate family being allowed to visit.

The other two still in the hospital are Suryadi, a resident of Bengkulu province, and a man claiming to be Iwan Daroji from Jakarta.

The latter, however, was in the possession of an identity card under the name of M. Darozat Arsyad, a resident of Cipinang Asem, East Jakarta. He suffered cuts from flying glass from the blast. He is said to be conscious and recovering well.

Suryadi is also recovering from cuts in his right thigh, shoulder and arm.

Merry said that "the two victims are recovering well."

"We have removed the pieces of glass from their bodies. I'm not sure about the one in ICU, he seems to be in a deep state of shock," Merry said.

Separately, the plaza remained closed on Thursday, causing losses of Rp 35 billion.

"Our daily transactions normally reach between Rp 30 billion and Rp 35 billion," the mall's operator, PT Segitiga Atrium's business development manager, Steven Tjen, told reporters.

Steven admitted that damage costs, such as broken windows and damage to the main gate, were being calculated, adding that the mall was insured.

He said the management was forced to close the mall on Thursday since the National Police central forensics laboratory was examining the scene.

"Thankfully the police are permitting us to resume business on Friday. They understand that our tenants should resume business to avoid more losses," he said.

Steven said the management, which had earlier deployed three sniffer dogs and 200 security officers, had received no warning prior to the explosion.

He denied that the blast had caused serious damage and destroyed stores inside the mall, saying that only glass, walls and the roof outside the mall had been damaged in the explosion.

"Actually, we could resume business today, but due to the laboratory unit investigation, we closed today and will resume operations tomorrow," Steven said. (jun/06)