Survivors say don't sensationalize Bali tragedy

Survivors say don't sensationalize Bali tragedy

Associated Press, Canberra

Survivors and relatives of victims of last year's Bali terrorist bombings said they fear a movie based on one survivor's best- selling book could sensationalize the tragedy.

Eighty-eight Australians were among 202 mostly foreign tourists who died when two terrorist bombs exploded on Oct. 12, 2002, in a nightclub district on the Indonesian holiday island.

One survivor, Australian rules footballer Jason McCartney, was drinking with a teammate during postseason celebrations when the bombs exploded.

McCartney, 29, ignored shrapnel wounds and burns to 50 percent of his body to help people escape the flames, and declined immediate medical help so those in more urgent need could be treated.

Nine Network television said over the weekend it wants to make a television movie based on McCartney's best-selling book After Bali. The book recounts the attacks, his near death when he slipped into a six-day coma, and his eight-month recovery and comeback to play one last professional game before announcing his retirement this year.

Magistrate Brian Deegan, whose 22-year-old son Josh died in the bombings, said on Monday he hoped the movie did not sensationalize the story or ignore other victims and survivors.

"Jason McCartney would no doubt realize that there are a multitude of people that have been affected by this and let's hope the producers realize that," he said.

David Marshall, whose father, Bob Marshall, died in the blast, told Brisbane's Sunday Mail newspaper he was "horrified that Jason could even think of going through with this."

"How can anyone want to take advantage of something so tragic?" Marshall said.

"I think everyone had their own recollections of things and I don't think one person's story, whether they are a profiled person, gives an overall account of that night," Lynley Huguenin, a survivor from the southern city of Adelaide, told Australian Associated Press on Monday.

A Nine Network spokesman said on Monday the network would respect the sensitivities of families and survivors.