Australian mother mourns twin girls killed in Bali

Australian mother mourns twin girls killed in Bali

Dean Yates, Reuters, Bali

Reading the messages of love and grief pasted on a fence outside
where the Sari Club once stood, Australian June Corteen struggles
to cope with her loss.

Corteen's twin daughters -- Jane and Jenny -- were either in
or just outside the club on Bali island one year ago when
Indonesian Muslim militants detonated a massive car bomb, killing
202 people, including her daughters. They were 39 years old.
Unexpectedly, Corteen finds a card stuck on the fence from a
close friend in Australia. How it got there she doesn't know, but
that show of support for her is too much.

"It's the surprise of seeing something like that which gets
you," Corteen told Reuters, wiping away a flood of tears.

The 61-year-old from the suburb of Maddington in Perth then
meets an Australian woman who narrowly missed death on that
night. She was just far enough away from the inferno at the time.
The two embrace and hold each other.

Despite her loss, Corteen shows an inspiring resilience as she
talks about the death of Jane and Jenny. A year later, the
feelings are still raw, but attending a commemorative service
this weekend with survivors and families will help, she said.

"I've been thinking about this all morning. I think it's
terribly important for me and my family so we can move on. It's
going to be very emotional, I think there will be lots of tears
shed, and lots of hugs," Corteen said.

Australia lost 88 citizens in the attacks. More than 500
survivors and families of victims will attend ceremonies on
Sunday to mark the anniversary of the worst act of terror since
the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Indonesia has clamped heavy security on Bali for the weekend.
It is only a matter of time before the Southeast Asian militant
Muslim group blamed for the Bali bombings, Jamaah Islamiyah,
strikes again, security experts say.

Corteen said her adventurous daughters were always close.
The twins, who were not identical, grew up in the small West
Australian town of Konnongorring, before taking on a variety of
jobs. Their father was a sheep farmer for a while.

Jane had two children, Jack, now six, and Katie, 4. Her
partner Steve had taken the children to visit his parents while
she and Jenny went to Bali. Jenny was single.

Asked where she got her strength to carry on, Corteen talked
about her hard life growing up, partly on a farm in Western
Australia. She also miscarried three babies.

Jane and Jenny were her only children.

"I actually lost three babies and I could logically work out
why I didn't carry them full term. But this, even though that
prepared for a little of this, it's nowhere near the impact this
has had on me and my family," Corteen said.

Corteen said she will always remember the first moments when
she heard a radio broadcast about the bombing. Someone mentioned
the hotel where her daughters were staying was near the site. She
feared the worst.

After days of trying to get information, her family got
through to the hotel, only to be told Jane and Jenny had not come
back to their room.

It took a couple of weeks for Jane and Jenny's bodies to be
identified. Corteen had to bring dental records and DNA to Bali.
Then came the emotion of taking them home, knowing their bodies
were in coffins in the plane's hold.

"When they came off at Perth airport, they had the Australian
flag draped on them and that was a mixture of overwhelming grief
and pride. Pride was mixed in there because they were
Australian," said Corteen.

Jane and Jenny were inseparable. The fact they died together
makes it a little less painful for their mother.

"They were born together and they died together. If one of
them had happened to survive and had been burnt or mained it
would have been terrible for her and it would have been extremely
hard for me. It's hard for me now but I'm pleased that they are
together," she said.