UK govt under fire over Bali blasts
UK govt under fire over Bali blasts
Agence France-Presse, London
The families of 18 Britons, killed in a massive bomb attack on a Bali nightclub last year, criticized the British government's response to the tragedy at an inquest here on Thursday.
A total of 26 Britons were killed in the terrorist attack last October on the Sari nightclub, located in the Kuta resort on the Indonesian island, but the remains of only 18 were repatriated to Britain.
George France, the father of student Laura France who died in the blast, expressed frustration the British government took one week to take DNA samples from his daughter's body.
"The British government are always ready to help other countries but were not there for us when we needed them," France told the inquest in Hammersmith, west London.
Laura, 18, was traveling round the world with friend Natalie Perkins when they stopped off in Bali, both women died in the attack.
Polly Miller, 30, survived the blasts -- two other bombs went off in the vicinity of the nightclub -- but suffered burns and lost her husband Nathaniel and close friend Annika Linden.
Miller told the inquest she was angry as she had spent 10 weeks in hospital in Australia, but was never given a family liaison officer.
"From Scotland Yard down, I didn't seem to exist. This was extremely distressing," Miller said.
The blasts hit the resort on Oct. 12 of last year claiming a total of 202 lives, many of them Australians.
The Indonesian authorities have arrested over 30 suspects in connection with the bombings and have blamed the attacks on the militant Islamic group Jamaah Islamiyah which is believed to have links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
A number of suspects accused of the bombings are currently on trial in Indonesia.
Ali Ghufron, known as 'Mukhlas,' who is said to be the militant group's operations chief, is accused of being the mastermind behind the attacks.
The families of those who died are attending the coroner's court in Hammersmith to hear how their relatives died.
The coroner for the western district of London explained to the families that her role was to confirm the deaths and ascertain how, where and when they died.
She stressed she was not able to go into the details of the criminal trials currently underway in Indonesia.
Susannah Miller, a spokeswoman for the Bali support group, told reporters outside the court "there was an awful lot of confusion in the early stages" after the bombing.
"We hope some of these issues will become clearer," she said. The inquest is expected to last two days.