Police release the names of 163 Bali blast victims

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.