Police release the names of 163 Bali blast victims

A'an Suryana and I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Denpasar

With the police making significant headway in the investigation of the Bali bombing of Oct. 12, Indonesia released on Monday the names of the victims killed in the tragedy.

However, the list is not complete, as 22 bodies have yet to be identified.

"Police investigators are still conducting DNA tests to identify the other 22 bodies," the spokesman for the Bali bomb blast inquiry team, Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said from his office here.

A total of 163 bodies have been identified out of the 185 victims who died in Bali from the blasts that ripped through Paddy's Cafe and the Sari Club in Kuta, with Indonesians accounting for the third highest number of victims, after Australia and Britain. Another six people died after they were evacuated to Australia.

Of the identified victims, 78 were Australian, 22 were Britons and 17 were Indonesian, according to the list of victims' names released by the National Police.

There were also six Swedes, six Germans, four French, seven Americans, four New Zealanders, two Dutch, two Japanese, three Danish, two South Koreans, two Swiss, one Italian, one Ecuadorian, one Taiwanese, one Canadian, one South African, one Brazilian, one Greek and one Portuguese.

The bodies were recovered days after the strong blasts toppled the two buildings. The blasts also injured more than 320 others, with some continuing to receive medical treatment in Bali or overseas.

A couple families had more than one member listed among the dead. They were South Korean Marissa Lee Keon, 14, and her mother Lynette Patricia Keon, 45, and Australians Jane Roselyn Corteen and Jenny Norma Corteen, both 39.

Of the identified victims, 110 were male and the rest were female.

The oldest victim was Robert James Marshal, a 68-year-old Australian, while the youngest was Marissa Lee Keon.

Australia, which had the most victims in the tragedy, sent its police (AFP) to assist the National Police in investigating the bombing. The joint inquiry team has achieved significant progress with the arrest of Amrozi and Imam Samudra, who are so far the two main suspects in the incident.

Australian authorities recently raided the homes of several Indonesians living in that country who were suspected of having links with the terrorist network. Australian Prime Minister John Howard has also made a statement, asking the UN to allow attacks on terrorists making Southeast Asian countries their base.

Regarding the investigation of Imam Samudra, Aritonang said that the suspect was questioned on Monday at the National Police Headquarters over his alleged role in a series of bombings in Jakarta.

The interrogation is expected to reveal a connection between the Bali bombing and a string of bombings, which rocked Jakarta in 2000 and 2001.

Samudra is expected to be immediately taken to Bali for further interrogation, including a reenactment of the crime.

Separately in Denpasar, Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Budi Setyawan said that some 1,100 police personnel would be deployed to maintain security in anticipation of the suspects' interrogation and their trial.

According to the two-star general, the deployment of the officers was needed to handle any problems that may arise during the police investigation or the trial.

He said the police had prepared a cell for Samudra and several officers would escort the two suspects.

The police are still seeking the mastermind behind the attack and those who are behind the series of bomb blasts in the country, including the Bali bombing.