Bomb blast kills one, injures four

Bomb blast kills one, injures four

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): A woman was killed and four others
injured here on Sunday afternoon when a bomb exploded near an
intersection on Jl. Syailendra.

Details of the incident remain sketchy, but several witnesses
claim the bomb was hurled from a passing motorcycle into a
pedicab.

However, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf said
in Jakarta the explosive device, believed to be a homemade bomb
with a timer, was most likely placed on top of the pedicab
sometime before it went off.

"This happened near an Indonesian Protestant Church (GKPI) and
the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI). One woman, Hotinda
Sihite, 22, died. She suffered severe head injuries since she was
only five meters from the blast site," Saleh told The Jakarta
Post.

Sources in Medan identified the injured as teenagers Melda
Borumanik and Cacah Putri, both students at Herna Nursing School
Hospital, K. Hutabarat and another teenage girl, F. Tina.

They are currently being treated at Herna Hospital, located
just a few meters away from where the explosion occurred.

The injuries are said to have been caused by nails which are
believed to have been inside the explosive device.

Saleh said police were questioning three people in connection
with the blast, but he refused to provide any further details.

He added that the explosion occurred as a ceremony marking the
50th anniversary of the Indonesian Council of Churches (GKI) was
being held at Pardede Hall on Jl. Syailendra, just 20 meters away
from the blast site.

Despite the explosion the ceremony continued as scheduled. The
chairman of the ceremony's organizing committee, JA Ferdinandus,
said there was no reason for a postponement.

"We believed that Pardede Hall was safe after being searched
by security officers," he said.

The explosion shattered windows in the hall and in several
other buildings located some 75 meters from the blast site.

Medan Police chief Insp. Gen. Hotman Siagian called on
Christians not to be provoked by the incident, and hinted at the
possibility that the bombing was the work of people seeking to
trigger sectarian violence in the territory.

"If you're asking about the blast, it's similar to the one
which occurred on Jl. Padang Bulan on May 28 this year," he said.

Saleh was referring to an explosion which rocked a GKPI church
on May 28, injuring at least 47 people attending Sunday service.

The officer said the blast at the church was believed to have
been caused by a homemade bomb.

Three other bombs were planted in two churches in Medan last
May, but they failed to explode, while an explosion destroyed a
restaurant on Jl. Pemuda, injuring three pedestrians.

In August, two separate bomb blasts occurred in the area near
Jl. Bahagia in Medan Tenggara district. (04/39/ylt/lup)