Australian embassy blast kills six
A huge bomb exploded near the Australian embassy in Indonesia’s capital today, killing at least four people and injuring nearly 100.
No one inside the heavily fortified embassy in Jakarta was wounded in the blast, said Lyndall Sachs, a spokeswoman for the Australian foreign ministry in Canberra.
Prime minister John Howard said up to six people may have died. But a doctor at a nearby hospital could not confirm that, saying the toll stood at four with 98 people admitted for treatment.
Four cars, including a police vehicle, were damaged, and a section of the embassy’s high metal perimeter fence was flattened. The windows on at least 10 high-rise buildings nearby were smashed.
The embassy is in Rasuna Said street, a main thoroughfare housing a number of foreign embassies and businesses.
Security officials said an Indonesian guard manning a post outside the gate was among those who died in the explosion, which occurred at 10.15am (5.15am Irish time).
“We are sure this is a bomb,” said Lt Darminto, a Jakarta police officer at the scene.
Although it was unclear who was responsible for the attack, in the past several years Indonesia has been hit by a series of deadly bombings of Western targets by militants belonging to Jemaah Islamiyah, a south-east Asian network linked to al-Qaida.
