'I can't bear the pain,' father says

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"Eva, I'm sorry! My beloved sister! I'm so sorry ..." cried Kristina Emi Widati, 37, upon seeing her younger sister's body at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) morgue.

She then grabbed a photograph of a five-year-old girl in a Balinese dancer costume.

"Look! It's my niece, her daughter. She's beautiful, isn't she? Look!" she says, showing the photo to a group of reporters. "She's in a coma, please pray for her."

Maria Eva Kumalawati, 27, was one of at least seven fatalities in the bombing outside the Australian Embassy on Jl. HR Rasuna Said, Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. It was the third major explosion in the country within two years after last year's Marriott bombing, also in Kuningan, and the 2002 Bali bombing.

Eva had been taking her daughter Elisabeth Manuela Bambina Musu, 5, to the Australian Embassy to apply for a visa. She died at the scene, her body covered in burns, while Manuela is in a critical condition at the Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) Hospital. Eva's body was taken to Emi's house in Curug, Tangerang.

Eva's brother, Ari Nugroho, said Eva's husband, Manuel Musu, was in Italy. They had contacted him and bought a ticket for the earliest flight to Jakarta.

Other victims were Suryadi, a 46-year-old gardener at the embassy; Mukopir, 45, a mechanic with PT Perusahaan Pembangunan state developer; Asep Saefuddin, 32, a surveyor with BII Financial Center; Anton Sujarwo, a security guard at the embassy; and Rini Dewi Puspita, 23, a student of Perbanas banking school.

One hundred and 61 others, including police officers deployed to guard the embassy, were injured and treated at different hospitals. Most of them suffered wounds from flying glass.

The fatalities all had something in common: they were innocent victims who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The situation at RSCM morgue, where the bodies were laid out before being claimed by family, was filled with the cries of grieving families and friends.

No government officials, politicians or top officials visited the morgue.

Suryadi had just arrived at the embassy for his 11 a.m. shift while Anton had been at his post at the embassy. They were both killed instantly.

"Suryadi's wife and his seven-year-old son, Febri, are waiting for his body to be taken home. They don't have the heart to come here," Junaidi, Suryadi's brother, said.

Mukopir had been taking a rest with other workers at a construction site near the embassy. His friends claimed he died of shock as no wounds were to be found on his body.

Asep had been riding his green Kawasaki motorcycle past the embassy on his way to meet a client at the Great River Plaza on the same street as the embassy.

Asep's father Masturi had been checking for news of his son at several hospitals since 2 p.m.

"Let my sons (Asep's brothers) identify him. I can't bear the pain," Masturi said. However, he later went along for the identification and his tears confirmed that he had lost a son.

As night fell, hearses transported the bodies of victims, except Anton's and Rini's, to their families' homes.