Bali blasts' victims plan memorial in UK
Bali blasts' victims plan memorial in UK
Emily Rotberg, Associated Press/London
Families of the British victims of the 2002 terrorist bombings in
Bali, Indonesia, announced plans on Thursday for a permanent
memorial in London's St. James Park.
The UK Bali Bombing Victims' Group, a support and advocacy
group established by the 26 British families who lost loved ones
in the bombings, will submit a planning application for the
memorial to Westminster Council on Friday.
Matthew Arnold, whose brother Timothy, 43, died in the
bombing, said a permanent memorial had long been an important
goal for the group.
"We wanted to make sure that everybody who died is going to be
properly remembered in an elegant and simple way," Arnold said.
Sketches of the memorial feature a wall bearing engraved names
of each of the bombing's 202 victims and a granite sphere covered
in 202 individually carved doves.
Jocelyn Waller, who lost his son Ed in the bombing, said
sculptor Garry Breeze's design was "very moving, very striking."
Waller said he hoped the memorial could help bring closure to
victims' families while bringing public attention to the
seriousness of the bombing.
"I think my own son would have said, 'Dad, get on with life',"
Waller said. "A London memorial will be an event which will sort
of put this thing to rest."
Ed Waller, 26, was working in Hong Kong when he went to Bali
on a rugby trip with 10 friends. Only one of the group survived
the bombings.
The group of family members hopes to unveil the memorial on
Oct. 12, 2005, the third anniversary of the bombing.
Two back-to-back bombings hit nightclubs in the town of Kuta
on the Indonesian island of Bali. The blasts targeted an area
popular with foreign tourists.
In addition to the dead, 209 people were injured. The victims
came from 22 countries, with the largest number from Australia.
Other memorials for the attack have been constructed in Kuta
and in the Australian cities of Sydney and Perth.
Waller said the group would finance the London memorial
through private funding and a contribution from the British
government.