Security guard recalls horror of Thursday embassy attack

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Syahromi got on his feet in a daze and saw a colleague, Anton Sujarwo, lying motionless near the door of the Australian embassy guard post where they worked as security guards.

Wedged in between Anton's body and pieces of glass was a little girl, with her clothes blown off. Syahromi carefully picked up five-year-old Elisabeth Manuela Bambina Musu.

"She kept on calling 'mama, mama'," recalled Syahromi, who has two daughters himself. His voice trembling, his eyes misty.

A day after Thursday's explosion the 34-year old security guard was still being treated at the Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) Hospital near the embassy in South Jakarta on Friday.

He had lost hearing in one ear from the blast.

He does not have any scratches or scrapes on his skin, but says he feels pain all over his body, particularly in his chest. Syahromi was still overwhelmed by the fact that he was still alive.

On Thursday morning, Syahromi was standing in the embassy's lobby, some 10 meters from the center of the explosion, and was thrown back when the bomb went off.

He remembered that Anton still had a pulse when he checked right after the explosion. "I told him (Anton) to wait, that I would get some help," said Syahromi.

Anton, 24, did not make it. He was among the nine fatalities. There were also 182 injured, including young Manuela.

The bomb also killed Manuela's mother, Maria Eva Kumalawati, who according to the embassy was collecting the girl's passport.

Following the blast, Syahromi said, "her clothes were torn ... I asked her permission to cover her (revealed) thigh.

"I turned to the Brimob (Mobile Brigade) men for help, but they had blood all over them," he said.

After trying to assist several other victims, Syahromi could not bear the mounting pain in his ears. He thought he was deaf and asked to be taken to a hospital.

Syahromi's wife, Wartini, was proud that her husband had helped so many people but worried about medical bills and extra costs of transportation, even though so far the hospital is not charging her anything.

One of their daughters is in high school, the other in elementary school.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi and Jakarta governor Sutiyoso have announced that all medical expenses would be paid for by the government.

In the aftermath of the JW Marriott bombing, which rocked the hotel on Aug. 5 last year, killing 12 people and wounding 147 others, patients were not covered by the government.

Doctors had not informed the couple about potential surgery or other measures that might restore his hearing, said Wartini. Syahromi is still experiencing a ringing in his ears about twice per hour.

He has a lot of experience as a security guard, and has worked at the embassy since April 2003. Prior to that, he was a guard for more than four years at Taman Mini in East Jakarta.

Frequent bombings are something fairly new to Jakartans, but perhaps it is becoming overly and chillingly familiar to this generation of security guards. "(A bomb) is a risk that every security guard must take," says Syahromi. "If I get my hearing back, I will return to the job."