Blast shatters busy Jakarta street

JAKARTA -- A powerful explosion rocked the Australian embassy in central Jakarta this morning, killing at least three people in the vicinity and injuring more than 100, witnesses and local radio said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, speaking in Melbourne, said he understood that up to six people had been killed. He said that the blast appeared to have come from a car bomb but it was unclear who was responsible.

Australian television said all embassy staff were accounted for although some had minor injuries.

Jakarta's police chief, Firman Gani, said no foreigners were killed in the blast, which he said was caused by a car bomb.

The scene at the blast site was chaotic. Windows of buildings in and around the embassy were shattered. Body parts were strewn on the street.

''My friend Anton just died, my friend Anton just died. He was a security guard," guard Siti Riani said, sobbing.

Hundreds of police were outside the embassy, with thousands of people swarming in the street. Police formed a line and were pushing people back.

''I was driving and suddenly there was an explosion," said one survivor, Paryadi. ''Now I'm bleeding from the head."

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, has been occasionally hit by bomb attacks in recent years, including blasts in Bali in October 2002 that killed 202 people and at the luxury JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in August 2003 that killed 12.

Just 24 hours ago, Jakarta police had said that security at hotels in Indonesia would be boosted after the US State Department issued a travel warning. The police warned of threats including possible attacks related to the country's Sept. 20 presidential election.

The fortress-like Australian embassy building is surrounded by a tall fence made of thick metal tubes with a large reinforced gate. The building is on Rasuna Said Road, one of central Jakarta's busiest roads, which is lined with office towers, embassies, and hotels.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who will fly to Jakarta tonight, said the blast was ''clearly a terrorist attack" aimed at Australia.

Australia immediately issued a travel warning to its citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Indonesia. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement that Australians in Indonesia who were concerned for their safety should also consider leaving.

''We continue to receive reports that terrorists in the region are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners," Australia's foreign affairs department said in its upgraded travel warning.

Bleeding victims were being taken from the embassy complex to ambulances, but police said the actual explosion probably took place outside the gates.

''It seems that the blast came from outside the embassy. If you look at it, the buildings that are most damaged are the buildings around the embassy, not the embassy," police major Widodo said.

The blast occurred just two days ahead of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, in which about 3,000 people died.

The Al Qaeda network, led by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, was blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks, and the group seen as its southeast Asian wing, Jemaah Islamiah, was responsible for the Bali bombing and the August 2003 hotel attack, authorities said.