Surfers pay tribute to Bali's dead one week after bombings
Surfers pay tribute to Bali's dead one week after bombings
Agence France-Presse, Jimbaran, Bali
Some 150 surfers gathered on a Bali beach Saturday for a special commemoration of the dead, one week after three suicide attacks on crowded restaurants.
The surfers from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Japan gathered on the beach at Jimbaran where two of the attacks took place.
Carrying their boards, they marched towards the sea and paddled out to form a big circle. They observed a minute's silence and then dipped flowers into the sea.
"In the surfing culture, when there's a loss of life we have a gathering like this to pay respects to the dead and pray that the ocean we live by will take care of us," said Australian Paul Hudson, 37, CEO of a surfer clothing company who has lived in Bali for 16 years.
"We are gathered here where two explosions took place and this is to demonstrate that life goes on in Bali. We will bounce back again as we did three years ago."
Nightclub blasts in Bali in October 2002 killed 202 people. Both attacks are blamed on the Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Mark Parthezius, from Perth, Australia, has been in Bali for four years as a construction consultant.
"I'm here to show support for the local community, to show to the world that we are staying here despite the terrorist attack," he said.
Fellow Bali resident Sammy Gosling, an Australian marketing executive with a surf apparel firm, said Bali was a strong community.
"The community has been hurt by the attack but we cannot put our lives on hold. We will support the community to bounce back."
Police have questioned a total of 152 witnesses over the past week in connection with the blasts, but no one has been arrested or charged, Soenarko Dhanu Artanto, National Police deputy spokesman told reporters on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Police helicopters on Saturday dropped thousands of leaflets with pictures of suspected masterminds, the Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Top, on traditional markets throughout central Java. The leaflets said: "These are dangerous terrorists! If you see them, please report to the nearest police."
As of Saturday the death toll reached 23, including three suspected bombers, when another restaurant worker reportedly died of internal bleeding.