Tangerang blast puzzle police

JAKARTA (JP): Tangerang Police detectives submitted to the National Police forensics laboratory (Puslabfor) fragments of a schoolbag which exploded on Thursday evening in front of the Mitra supermarket in Telaga Sari village, Cikupa.

The 6 p.m. blast seriously injured high school students Tutilawati, 18, a resident of Pasar Kemis, Tangerang, and Lo'ot, 17, also a resident of Pasar Kemis. Both were immediately rushed to Tangerang General Hospital for medical treatment.

"The blast originated from Lo'ot's schoolbag. Both students were returning to their homes, Lo'ot handed his bag to the girl, and his bag exploded," Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said on Friday.

Lo'ot suffered serious back wounds, while Tutilawati's arms were lacerated.

"So far we have found no trace of any bomb or explosive particle in the vicinity of the blast area. Nothing at all ... so we don't know whether it was a firecracker, a grenade or what. We don't know whether there was any TNT (flammable toxic compound trinitrotoluene) or not."

National Police deputy Puslabfor chief Col. Dudon Saputra previously stated that when a blast occurs, the explosive material itself "does not disappear into thin air".

"There is always bomb residue left behind. That is enough to determine the composition of a bomb, and what mechanism was used to activate it," Dudon said recently.

"In any sort of explosion or fire, the bomb itself is never really finished totally. There is always residue." (ylt)