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Fatal blasts hit Jakarta hotels
Deadly explosions hit Jakarta hotels
At least nine people including some foreigners have been killed in two bomb blasts at luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, police say.
One explosion hit the Ritz-Carlton, ripping off its facade, and the other the Marriott Hotel. At least 48 people were injured.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts.
The BBC's Karishma Vaswani says security is extremely tight around the two hotels.
There were reports of a third explosion in northern Jakarta a few hours later but it was not immediately clear what the cause was.
The blasts occurred at about 0730 local time (0030 GMT).
"I heard two sounds like 'boom, boom' coming from the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton. Then I saw people running out," security guard Eko Susanto told AFP.
Geoffrey Head, on business in the city, told the BBC he did not hear the blast but that his colleagues had called him after it happened to tell him to leave the building.
"I looked out of the window - I could see down to ground level and I saw there was a lot of broken glass. I thought it was time to actually get out."
Mr Head said there had been no warning to evacuate the building.
"The surreal thing was going down in the elevator and walking through the lobby and looking across to my left and noticing the cafe was completely blown out," he said.
Myra Junor, who witnessed the blasts from a nearby building, told Reuters windows on the lower floors of the Ritz-Carlton had shattered.
Ambulances raced to the scene and there is a heavy police presence in the area, says our correspondent.
Finding the victims
Police said a number of foreigners were among those who died.
The president director of PT Holcim Indonesia, Tim Mackay, was among them, the company's marketing director Patrick Walser said.
Security Minister Widodo Adi Sucipt said a New Zealander was among the injured.
A 50-year-old South Korean man, Cho In-sang, was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
"I don't remember exactly but suddenly the ceiling is falling down and the sound was big," he said.
Consular staff are trying to track their nationals, and Australia issued a warning against unnecessary travel to Indonesia.
An Australian man told local radio in Australia that his son had been hurt at the Marriott and was being taken to hospital.
The man, who identified himself only as Jim, said his son had telephoned him from Jakarta to say his leg was wounded and he had lost hearing in one ear in an explosion.
"He's on his way to hospital. He's OK," Jim said.
Manchester United football team was due to arrive in Indonesia on Saturday and was booked to stay at the Ritz-Carlton. The blasts may raise doubts about the team's tour, PA news agency reported.
The two hotels are in Jakarta's central business district.
Past tensions
The attacks come just weeks after peaceful presidential elections, won by incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The country of 240 million people has been praised in recent years for maintaining a pluralist democracy while finding and punishing radical Islamists responsible for a series of bombings five years ago.
Church bombings in 2000 killed 19 people.
Bomb attacks on two nightclubs in Bali in October 2002 killed 202 people, most of them Australian.
The Marriott Hotel was the target of a bomb attack in August 2003 in which 13 people were killed. A bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004 killed nine people.
Since then, a combination of new laws, anti-terror training, international cooperation and reintegration measures have kept Indonesia peaceful, analysts have said.
Deadly explosions hit Jakarta hotels
At least nine people including some foreigners have been killed in two bomb blasts at luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, police say.
One explosion hit the Ritz-Carlton, ripping off its facade, and the other the Marriott Hotel. At least 48 people were injured.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts.
The BBC's Karishma Vaswani says security is extremely tight around the two hotels.
There were reports of a third explosion in northern Jakarta a few hours later but it was not immediately clear what the cause was.
The blasts occurred at about 0730 local time (0030 GMT).
"I heard two sounds like 'boom, boom' coming from the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton. Then I saw people running out," security guard Eko Susanto told AFP.
Geoffrey Head, on business in the city, told the BBC he did not hear the blast but that his colleagues had called him after it happened to tell him to leave the building.
"I looked out of the window - I could see down to ground level and I saw there was a lot of broken glass. I thought it was time to actually get out."
Mr Head said there had been no warning to evacuate the building.
"The surreal thing was going down in the elevator and walking through the lobby and looking across to my left and noticing the cafe was completely blown out," he said.
Myra Junor, who witnessed the blasts from a nearby building, told Reuters windows on the lower floors of the Ritz-Carlton had shattered.
Ambulances raced to the scene and there is a heavy police presence in the area, says our correspondent.
Finding the victims
Police said a number of foreigners were among those who died.
The president director of PT Holcim Indonesia, Tim Mackay, was among them, the company's marketing director Patrick Walser said.
Security Minister Widodo Adi Sucipt said a New Zealander was among the injured.
A 50-year-old South Korean man, Cho In-sang, was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
"I don't remember exactly but suddenly the ceiling is falling down and the sound was big," he said.
Consular staff are trying to track their nationals, and Australia issued a warning against unnecessary travel to Indonesia.
An Australian man told local radio in Australia that his son had been hurt at the Marriott and was being taken to hospital.
The man, who identified himself only as Jim, said his son had telephoned him from Jakarta to say his leg was wounded and he had lost hearing in one ear in an explosion.
"He's on his way to hospital. He's OK," Jim said.
Manchester United football team was due to arrive in Indonesia on Saturday and was booked to stay at the Ritz-Carlton. The blasts may raise doubts about the team's tour, PA news agency reported.
The two hotels are in Jakarta's central business district.
Past tensions
The attacks come just weeks after peaceful presidential elections, won by incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The country of 240 million people has been praised in recent years for maintaining a pluralist democracy while finding and punishing radical Islamists responsible for a series of bombings five years ago.
Church bombings in 2000 killed 19 people.
Bomb attacks on two nightclubs in Bali in October 2002 killed 202 people, most of them Australian.
The Marriott Hotel was the target of a bomb attack in August 2003 in which 13 people were killed. A bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004 killed nine people.
Since then, a combination of new laws, anti-terror training, international cooperation and reintegration measures have kept Indonesia peaceful, analysts have said.
lols.......When we thought terrorism is dwindling down the drain....they've come back. It just makes it feels that the effort and reputation Indonesia have been building is a waste of time.
daymn bombers!
too many condemn over the action but not a single one care to say sympathy toward the tragedy. 