Calm returns to Ambon after blast

Calm returns to Ambon after blast

M. Azis Tunny and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Ambon/Jakarta

Security returned to normal in Ambon city on Tuesday, a day after
a grenade explosion hit the Maluku capital leaving at least 19
people injured.

The religiously segregated city was wracked by sectarian
violence between 1999 and 2002, killing thousands of people.

"Some people still seem worried after the explosion last
night, but traffic has largely returned to normal," Tomy
Ferdinandus, 42, a public transportation driver plying Ambon-
Tulehu route, said on Tuesday.

The grenade explosion on late Monday night occurred when a
public transportation minibus on the Ambon-Passo route was
passing Jl. Sultan Hairun in the Muslim subdistrict of Batumerah
in downtown Ambon.

Witnesses said that the minibus, carrying 14 people, was being
followed by a Yamaha RX-King motorcycle with two persons riding.

Suddenly, the motorcycle pulled alongside the minibus and a
grenade was thrown inside.

Fortunately, a passenger, Marten Pelamonia, 20, spontaneously
kicked the grenade out of the minibus, saving passengers from the
worst of the explosion. The grenade exploded a few meters outside
the speeding minibus.

The blast, however, injured five people standing along the
road. They were rushed to Al Fatah Hospital for treatment. They
were Suhendro Saputro, 22, A. Rafiq Maba, 20, Rauf Kaplale, 30,
Heri Purwanto, 17 and Is Haryanto, 19.

The blast sparked uproar among local residents who ran into
the street and tried to stop the minibus. The residents, who
thought that somebody inside the minibus had thrown the grenade,
began hurling stones into the vehicle. In order to avoid injury,
driver Roy Sialessy, 46, sped away but was stopped after 600
meters by a group of residents blocking the road.

Again, the 14 passengers and driver were fortunate, being
saved by police. The police fired warning shots after local
residents approached the severely damaged vehicle and tried to
attack the passengers inside.

Escorted by police personnel, the passengers ran into
Bayangkara Tantui Hospital, some 400 meters away. Four of the 14
suffered severe injuries that required immediate surgery.

The situation in Ambon city was tense, with many people
roaming the streets trying to find out what was going on.
However, calm returned at about noon. Police conducted random
checks along the streets in an attempt to hunt down the
perpetrators of the attack, with Yamaha RX-King's being the main
target of the impromptu inspections.

Chief of Ambon and Lease Islands Adj. Sr. Comr. Leonidas
Braksan confirmed on Tuesday that the explosion was caused by a
hand grenade.

Separately in Jakarta, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has
ordered National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and Military
Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto to launch intelligence operations
to hunt down the perpetrators of Monday's attack.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a press conference on Tuesday
that the President made the order half an hour after receiving
the report about the incident.