Final bombings victim buried in home town

Final bombings victim buried in home town

The sleepy Australian west coast town of Busselton was burying its second victim in three years of terrorism on the distant island of Bali.

High school student and budding football star Brendan Fitzgerald, 16, was to be buried on Thursday in a coffin painted in the colors of his local Australian Rules Football team in the final funeral of the four Australians killed by suicide bombings on the Indonesian tourist island on Oct. 1.

For the population of 25,000 in the seaside town 225 kilometers south of the Western Australia state capital Perth, the funeral was an extraordinary sequel to the tragic scenes when local school teacher Carol Johnston was buried after she was among 88 Australians killed by terror blasts on Bali on Oct. 12, 2002.

"There's a genuine sense of disbelief here," state lawmaker and friend of the Fitzgerald family Troy Buswell told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Thursday.

"How could such a small corner or part of Australia be hit twice by such a tragic act?" he asked.

Brendan's father Terry Fitzgerald, 43, and 13-year-old sister, Jessica Fitzgerald, were seriously injured in the blast at a Kuta beach restaurant and were airlifted to Singapore for treatment.

The funeral was postponed until Terry Fitzgerald -- who suffered spinal injury, burns to his back and shrapnel wounds -- was well enough to attend. His daughter is expected to make a full recovery.

Three blasts at Kuta and Jimbaran Beach on Oct. 1 killed a total of 23. The three blasts in 2002 killed 202 including 88 Australians. -- AP