More Australian fatalities identified

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

After five days of work, a joint forensics team from Indonesia and Australia identified on Thursday two casualties of last weekend's bomb attacks in Bali as missing Australian nationals.

The identification of Newcastle couple of Colin Zwolinski and Fiona Zwolinski brings the Australian death toll in the Oct. 1 blasts to four. Sixteen-year-old Brendan Fitzgerald and 48-year- old Jennifer H. Williamson were the first Australians to be confirmed dead.

"We are arranging with families the return of the bodies to Australia. It will take a number of days," Australian Embassy Public Affairs Counselor Elizabeth O'Neill said on Thursday.

Brendan, from the West Australian town of Busselton, was the youngest of four Australians killed on the attack on the resort island. His young sister Jessica and father Terry were seriously injured and have been airlifted to Singapore. Doctors fear Terry may go blind due to wounds to his eyes. Like her father, Jessica also received burns and shrapnel injuries.

The Disaster Victim Identification team at Sanglah General Hospital Ida Bagus Putu Alit said the forensic experts identified the bodies after comparing post-mortem data, including teeth structure, skin color and face shapes, with data provided by families.

The bodies of Zwolinski couple were found among those perished at the Kafe Nyoman in Jimbaran, where the first bomb went off at around 7:40 p.m. last Saturday.

The forensic team has now identified 21 bodies.

Police had insisted that the terror attack had claimed 22 lives, but Alit said he believed the number of dead would reach 23. The forensic team has examined 26 bags containing both bodies and body parts. It has determined that there are at least 21 bodies, including those of the suicide bombers.

Alit said the forensic team relied a lot on data provided by families in performing the identifications.

"It requires cooperation from the families who have claimed the loss of their parents, spouses or children. There was a lack of post-mortem data that had slowed the identification process in the first days of our effort," Alit said.

Volunteers who help trace the whereabouts of the blast victims have received reports on 76 missing people, but as of Thursday 44 of them had been taken off the list.

The volunteers' data also revealed that hospitals had discharged 14 people injured by the suicide bombings, including a South Korean national.

Those who remain missing include three Japanese, two Germans, two Danes, two Americans, an Irishman, a Pakistani, a Briton and a Dutchman.

The coordinator of the volunteers, Jane Marie Lumy, called on the public to report the disappearance of people following the terror attack.

Foreigners still missing after bomb blasts:

Akiko Sasaki (Japan)
Anders Vaibro (Denmark)
Ante Drazina (USA)
David Smymn (Ireland)
Dr Syahid Malik (Pakistan)
Imke Manan Rath (Germany)
Jane Husbid (UK)
Morten Rahm (Denmark)
Rudi Winter (Netherlands)
Seiji Sakamoto (Japan)
Stephane Provost M (USA)
Tonja Rinki (Germany)
Watanabe (Japan)