Explosion rocks Kelapa Gading mall, frightens shoppers

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of shoppers were startled by an explosion in the parking lot of Kelapa Gading shopping center in North Jakarta on Tuesday evening.

As of Wednesday, police said they still had no idea about what caused the explosion.

No fatalities were recorded but the blast shattered windows of two empty public minivans on the site.

According to North Jakarta Police detectives chief Maj. Heru Winarko, the explosion occurred at about 8 p.m., a few hours before the shopping center closed.

Police were alerted and came to investigate the area, he said.

"We found nothing. We also called the National Police Gegana bomb squad for a backup. But I don't know if they found anything at the site," officer Heru said.

A number of witnesses, including the drivers of the minivans, were questioned but Heru said the police had no definite clues about who could have been responsible for planting explosives.

Heru quoted witnesses as saying they saw thick smoke coming from bushes under a garden light at the parking lot shortly after the blast.

The light reportedly was not damaged at all and the smoke did not spread.

"If the explosion came from a flammable chemical substance then many people would have smelled a strange odor after the explosion. But no one told us this was so," Heru said.

A similar incident occurred at a vacant lot between city police headquarters and the Jakarta Stock Exchange on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, on Dec. 30.

As in the Kelapa Gading case, no official statement was made by police about the mysterious blast on one of Jakarta's main business areas.

A police source however disclosed that the blast was suspected to have been caused by a chemical substance that was seized as evidence by police.

"Not all police know how such chemicals work and that if they just throw the compound into the air, certain chemicals will explode immediately," the source said on Wednesday.

He however declined to speculate on the blast in Kelapa Gading, saying that an investigation was still underway. (emf)