Witnesses give grim accounts of JSX blast

Witnesses give grim accounts of JSX blast

JAKARTA (JP): Employees from some of the companies located in
the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building described the harrowing
moments following the powerful explosion that rocked the building
on Wednesday afternoon.

The jolt, they recalled, was felt by those on the 20th floor
of the 34-story building.

Sudrajat, a deliveryman for a securities firm, said he was
inside the building at the time of the explosion. "I was up on
the 20th floor when the explosion happened. It sounded like a
huge boom. Everybody on the floor ran to escape; fortunately no
one was trampled."

A man who was working on the sixth floor at the time of the
explosion said the blast rocked the floor.

"It was like the floor was lifted up quickly and then smashed
back down. Everything was scattered on the floor," the man, who
asked not to be named, said.

Bambang Suherman, a driver for the Maxus oil company who was
injured in the blast, shared his personal nightmare with
journalists. "I was sitting in an office in the P2 underground
parking lot when suddenly I heard a very loud blast that
shattered all the windows.

"Everybody was screaming and trying to get out of the
building," he said a few minutes after he succeeded in reaching
the street.

"I found out later that my temple had been cut by some pieces
of the shattered glass," Suherman said while holding his head to
try and stanch the bleeding.

A dealer at a foreign brokerage firm said all of the dealers
were evacuated from the trading floor of the stock exchange.

Thick black smoke was seen coming from the building after the
explosion, causing drivers passing along the street in front of
the building to slow their vehicles. Thousands of pedestrians
crowded in front of the building to try and get a glimpse of what
was happening.

Debris from the lobby's ceiling littered the lobby floor,
three floors above the P2 parking level where the blast occurred.

Fifteen minutes after the explosion, fire squads began to
arrive at the building. However, they were unable to enter the
underground parking lot because of the smoke.

Shortly after news of the blast was broadcast by radio and
television stations, scores of people rushed to the building to
locate friends and family members.

Many of them asked reporters for help in finding their loved
ones. "Do you have the names of the victims? I am looking for my
brother. He is a driver here," a man said.

After being told the victims were being taken to Pertamina
Hospital in South Jakarta, the man rushed to the hospital.

Dozens of victims, mostly drivers and security guards who were
in the P2 parking lot when the bomb went off, were treated at the
hospital.

Most of them were cut by broken glass or hit by flying debris,
a doctor in the hospital's emergency room, Chafied Varuna, said.

Among the wounded was Tugiman, 48, from Ragunan in South
Jakarta. The doctor said Tugiman was suffering from temporary
amnesia which was likely the result of the shock of the blast.

Tugiman also was suffering from impaired hearing and cuts to
his head. After taking an X-ray, doctors also found metal
fragments in Tugiman's chest.

Similar fragments also were found in another victim, Ahmad
Mulyadi, 43.

Twenty-year-old Saludin, a resident of Perdatam in South
Jakarta, suffered wounds to his right eye and around his mouth
from broken glass.

Rusli, 19, who was released shortly after being admitted to
the hospital, said he was installing ceramic tiles on the P2
parking level when the explosion occurred.

"The parking lot was full of smoke and it was hard to find a
way out," said Rusli, who had several wounds on his arms.

Susilo Wati, the spokeswoman for Pertamina Hospital, said
about 17 victims had been released after being treated.

One victim, Ronni, 25, said he was in a waiting room for
drivers on the P2 parking level when the explosion occurred.

"Everyone panicked. Some were injured and bleeding," Ronni
said.

"For a few seconds everything went black. I realized later
that my face was bleeding," Kardiman, 48, who works for an
offshore oil company located in the building, said.(jaw/07)