Embassies to help ID victims

Embassies to help ID victims

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The Indonesian government has been working closely with the
embassies of foreign countries whose citizens fell victim to last
week's blast as it has become clear that the Bali provincial
administration is overwhelmed by the grim task of identifying the
remains of the victims.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa said
here on Friday that the countries whose citizens were killed in
the blast had yet to reach an agreement on how to deal with the
remaining bodies.

"We are therefore continuing to consult with the ambassadors
of the foreign countries to coordinate efforts to deal with the
bodies," Marty was quoted by Antara as saying.

The foreign embassies had not yet decided whether to bury the
bodies in Indonesia or send them home, Marty said, adding that
the uncertainty regarding the bodies was related to several
factors, including the identification process and the
investigation into the blast itself.

"We are hoping to find the right solution considering that the
bodies cannot be kept for too long," said Marty.

Meanwhile, Bali provincial administration spokesman I Gde
Nurjaya said his administration had been overwhelmed by the task
of identifying the remains of the victims of last Saturday's
blast.

Nurjaya said the administration could not just bury the
remains without the consent of the victims' families or their
governments.

As of Friday, the official number of victims from the blast
stood at 507. Of this number, 186 were confirmed dead with 42
having been identified. The dead hailed from Britain (9),
Indonesia (10), Australia (12), Singapore (3), New Zealand (2),
USA (2), France (1), Germany (1), Equador (1) and South Korea
(1).

Meanwhile, officials said the number of people killed in the
Bali terrorist bomb attack far exceeded the official death toll
of 186.

Many of the bodies recovered from the blast and the ensuing
inferno that completely destroyed the Sari Club and Paddy's bar
in Kuta were charred beyond recognition or blown to pieces.

Forensic experts believe the bodies of some of the people in
the bars could have been totally immolated by the intense heat of
the flames and the identification process could take months.

"The death toll is sure to be higher but it is so difficult to
establish a precise figure," an official from the Sanglah General
Hospital in Denpasar said as quoted by AFP.

The hospital's morgue is full of charred bodies and body
parts.

A local woman died of burns late on Wednesday, bringing the
known death toll to 186 -- 183 of whom died in Indonesia and
three after being transferred to Australia.

Meanwhile, the first body of an Australian killed in the
bombing has been positively identified and will be flown home to
the southern city of Adelaide this weekend, a report said Friday.

The remains of Angela Golotta were positively identified by
Australian forensic specialists working with the bodies of
approximately 180 bombing victims, many charred or mangled beyond
recognition after the blast last Saturday, AFP said, quoting a
report from ABC radio.

ABC said the body of Golotta, who would have turned 20 on
Thursday, would be flown to Adelaide on Saturday.

Golotta's two uncles have been increasingly outspoken in their
frustration over the lack of progress in identifying the bodies,
about 114 of whom are believed to be Australians.

On Friday, they appealed directly to Prime Minister John
Howard, visiting the scene of the blast, to speed up the process,
although police experts said it would take several weeks to
identify the victims using DNA testing and other scientific
means.

Bali is also treating the remaining 32 out of the total 323
people wounded in the blast. Twenty-nine of the patients are
Indonesians, according to data released by the crisis center.
They are being treated in the Sanglah General Hospital (25), Budi
Raharja Hospital (1), Kasih Ibu Hospital (1), Darma Husada
Hospital (1), Prima Medika Hospital (2) and Graha Asih Hospital
(1).