Post by Kantee on Sept 9, 2004 5:15:09 GMT
-- A powerful blast has hit Jakarta's central business district, indonesia near the Australian Embassy, killing at least three people and wounding many more, news agencies say.
"Several bodies" were seen just outside the Australian Embassy's 6- meter (20-foot) high steel gate, which was mangled in the blast, CNN's Maria Ressa reported.
The blast -- which Ressa said was "far larger" than a blast which killed 12 in the JW Marriot Hotel in the same district last year -- shattered nearly all the windows in seven surrounding buildings, including several high-rises.
Witnesses reported hearing the blast as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) away. Video of the blast site showed rescue workers carrying an injured man on a stretcher to a nearby ambulance.
Police have cordoned off the area as a bomb squad searched for more explosive devices. A burned out vehicle sat in front of the area, and other vehicles sustained damage.
A series of smaller blasts reportedly followed the major explosion and police have set up checkpoints in an effort to keep people away from the area in case of further explosions.
A four-lane highway near the blast site has been closed.
The Australian embassy has been evacuated, with a government spokesman saying they are still trying to ascertain if any nationals are hurt, according to media reports.
Several countries including the United States and Australia have warned their citizens about possible attacks by militants in recent weeks.
Last Friday, Australia warned that "particular caution should be exercised in Jakarta, including the central business and embassy districts," and said that security at its embassy in the capital remained at a high level.
Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, has been hit by a series of bomb attacks in recent years.
In October 2002, 202 people were killed in the resort island of Bali, many of them Australians.
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a militant group with ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network that is trying to set up a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia, has been linked both those blasts.
the whole world are sick, why in the hell they're bombed everything....
"Several bodies" were seen just outside the Australian Embassy's 6- meter (20-foot) high steel gate, which was mangled in the blast, CNN's Maria Ressa reported.
The blast -- which Ressa said was "far larger" than a blast which killed 12 in the JW Marriot Hotel in the same district last year -- shattered nearly all the windows in seven surrounding buildings, including several high-rises.
Witnesses reported hearing the blast as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) away. Video of the blast site showed rescue workers carrying an injured man on a stretcher to a nearby ambulance.
Police have cordoned off the area as a bomb squad searched for more explosive devices. A burned out vehicle sat in front of the area, and other vehicles sustained damage.
A series of smaller blasts reportedly followed the major explosion and police have set up checkpoints in an effort to keep people away from the area in case of further explosions.
A four-lane highway near the blast site has been closed.
The Australian embassy has been evacuated, with a government spokesman saying they are still trying to ascertain if any nationals are hurt, according to media reports.
Several countries including the United States and Australia have warned their citizens about possible attacks by militants in recent weeks.
Last Friday, Australia warned that "particular caution should be exercised in Jakarta, including the central business and embassy districts," and said that security at its embassy in the capital remained at a high level.
Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, has been hit by a series of bomb attacks in recent years.
In October 2002, 202 people were killed in the resort island of Bali, many of them Australians.
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a militant group with ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network that is trying to set up a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia, has been linked both those blasts.
the whole world are sick, why in the hell they're bombed everything....
