Blasts at Jakarta hotels kill at least 9
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Nine people were killed and 50 more were wounded in nearly simultaneous bomb blasts at the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in central Jakarta today, Indonesian officials said.
Police spokesman Chrysnanda Dwilaksana said at least six of the dead were at the Marriott, which was badly damaged by a car bomb attack in 2003 that killed 12 people.
A Jakarta hospital official said at least 10 people had been brought in for treatment. Witnesses said foreigners were among those hurt.
There have not been any major bomb blasts in Indonesia for several years, and this month’s presidential elections passed off peacefully, underscoring the progress made by the world’s most populous Muslim nation since the chaos and violence that surrounded the downfall of Suharto, the country’s former autocrat, in the late-1990s.
Lydia Ruddy, a witness who lives in the area, said she heard an explosion and saw smoke coming from the Marriott, followed five minutes later by another explosion at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which is in the same area.
Islamist militants from the regional Jemaah Islamiyah organization were blamed for numerous attacks between 2002-2005 in Indonesia, including bombings on the island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. 