Bali blast caused by three bombs: Police

Bali blast caused by three bombs: Police

Tiarma Siboro and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

The explosion that rocked Bali on Oct. 12 was caused by three
bombs, one of them inside a nightclub and two outside another club,
Indonesian Police said Sunday.

Meanwhile investigators said although they had questioned 67
people, including two local fisherman and a female survivor, no
arrests have been made.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang said one
of the bombs was placed inside Paddy's Cafe near a disc jockey's
booth and two others outside the nearby Sari Club in Kuta
district.

"The source of the big blast is a Mitsubishi L-300 van," said
Aritonang, who is also spokesman for the joint multi-national
team investigating the terrorist attacks.

Previously eyewitnesses had spoken of only two blasts in Kuta,
with a car bomb outside the Sari Club causing most of the
carnage.

However, Edward said the team had yet to conclude whether the
explosives used in the attack near the U.S. consulate general in
Renon, Bali, were similar to the attempted grenade attack on a
U.S. Embassy warehouse in Jl. Teluk Betung, Central Jakarta, last
month.

Aritonang said forensic experts were analyzing a motorcycle,
two Indonesian identity cards, a crash helmet and a glove
recovered from the blast site.

The joint investigation team also disclosed that they had
interviewed three more witnesses, including a Balinese woman who
managed to flee the blast scene and is currently undergoing
medical treatment in Australia.

"This woman is among survivors of the bombs that exploded at
Paddy's Cafe and Sari Club. She has been flown to Australia due
to serious injures," Edward said. He refused to elaborate.

Speaking at a joint press briefing led by Aritonang and
Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigator Brett Swan,
Aritonang said the team had also interviewed two local fishermen
due to "their knowledge of explosives".

Asked whether these Balinese fishermen were expert enough to
use C4, a plastic explosive, Aritonang simply said: "They
(fishermen) are used to dealing with explosives, that's why we
are interviewing them."

Last week the police confirmed that C4 was used in the Bali
bombing. C4 is a powerful substance mainly manufactured in the
United States but widely supplied to military forces around the
world. Last Tuesday, National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief
A.M. Hendropriyono said the technology and skills employed by the
attackers indicated they were from abroad.

Police also denied rumors they had arrested two Pakistanis in
a hotel in Nusa Dua on explosives charges.

Last week Bali Police questioned 10 Pakistanis but insisted
their questioning was not related to the explosions in Legian,
Kuta.

To date, police have interviewed 100 witnesses, including 10
Pakistanis. Previously, the team said they were focusing on four
main witnesses, including a security officer and a former
Indonesian Air Force officer.

The former Air Force officer, identified as Dedi Masrukhin,
was questioned due to suspicions regarding, among other things,
his alibi and his expertise in explosives.

Dedi learned his explosives' skills in the U.S. when he was
serving in the Air Force. He was discharged from the service last
year for drug abuse.

Sources told The Jakarta Post that the police received orders
to release Dedi although suspicions of his link to the Bali
blasts remain strong.

Meanwhile, Swan said the blast site in Kuta would be opened on
Friday afternoon after multinational investigators completed
forensic investigation.

Swan said the joint investigators had sent at least 6,000
contact forms to Australians in a bid to expand the
investigation.

The forms, once completed by witnesses and their relatives,
would serve as additional data for the investigators to enable
them to get a more comprehensive picture of the case.

"There will be more and more witnesses as we also plan to
interview dozens of injured people who are currently undergoing
medical treatment at Sanglah General Hospital here," Swan said.

Aritonang further said investigators had identified another
victim in the case, a Japanese identified as Yuka Suzuki.

The number of people confirmed killed in the bombing has risen
to 187 with the death of a Balinese woman during a flight to
Australia for medical treatment, a doctor told AFP Sunday.

"We have been informed that one of the three wounded women
flown to Australia for further medical treatment in Perth has
died on the way," said Wiyargita of the Sanglah General Hospital.

Wiyargita said the woman, who suffered extensive burns, had
undergone several operations and was in a stable condition when
she left for Perth.

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.

Many of the bodies recovered since the Oct. 12 blast and
ensuing fire were burned beyond recognition or blown to pieces.
The official death toll is believed to be a considerable
underestimate.

Forensic experts believe the bodies of some people might have
been totally destroyed by the intense heat and say the
identification process could take months.

Australians, Britons and Indonesians head the grim list of
blast victims believed to be from more than two dozen countries.

By early Sunday only 48 bodies, excluding the latest death,
had been identified at the main Sanglah hospital mortuary, Ketut
Semarajaya, a member of its forensic team, told AFP.

Semarajaya is among a team of 23 Indonesian doctors working
round the clock with 39 doctors from Australia, Hong Kong,
Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Japan and Taiwan to identify the
remains of victims.

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 coordinator 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,
lipstick or lipgloss 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, Bali Police were busy Saturday night and Sunday
with rumors about more bombings. Early on Sunday morning police
destroyed a suspicious package discovered outside a five-star
hotel a short distance from the blast site.

Police were called to the Jayakarta Hotel at about midnight to
examine the package discovered by garbage collectors about 100
metres from the hotel.

"Our security guards called police who took away the bag and I
don't know what happened after that," the hotel's duty manager
said as quoted by DPA.

Witnesses say the package was driven down Legian Street to be
detonated by the bomb squad. Early analysis suggests it was not a
bomb but police have yet to release further information.

The incident occurred as hundreds of mourners gathered at the
site of the Sari Club bombing to mark the one-week anniversary of
the terrorist strike. The candle-light vigil brought together
both locals and foreign tourists, many of whom are still waiting
for their loved ones to be identified.

"We were frantic with rumors of the discovery of more bombs,
but our investigation has found none," a police officer said as
quoted by Antara.

"There were suspicious items, but they turned out to be
garbage and batteries, not bombs," a bomb squad officer in Kuta
said.