Jakarta Blast Kills 15
A car bomb tore through a packed garage under Jakarta's stock exchange Wednesday, killing at least 15 people in a storm of fire and debris and rekindling fear in a city plagued by violence.
Emergency workers and marines scaled back their search about midnight after clearing the garage's second level, the center of the blast that hit barely half an hour before thousands of workers would have headed home after the market close.
Police spokesman Superintendent Nur Usman said police were holding five people for 24 hours for questioning over the attack -- which injured dozens, some seriously. He gave no details.
Usman, who confirmed the blast as a car bomb, said emergency workers would search the modern complex throughout the night and did not rule out finding more bodies.
He said 10 of the dead had died from asphyxiation and burns and five had died in local hospitals of injuries received from flying debris.
The outside of the complex was not seriously damaged because the explosion was underground. Hundreds of workers fled the multi-storey building in panic after the mid-afternoon blast.
As rescuers waded through knee-deep water and debris to bring out blackened and heat-blistered bodies late into the night, some office workers scrambled into the garage to check on their cars, many weeping when they saw the twisted wreckage.
The dead and injured are believed mainly to be drivers. Many Indonesians employ drivers and they commonly wait with the cars.
City hospitals said they had received dozens of injured suffering burns and cuts. Some are in intensive care.
"There was an explosion in the car park…and then apparently cars blew up one by one," said one office worker. "People were running around with blackened faces. It was quite devastating."
Exchange officials immediately suspended trading and said the exchange might not reopen until Monday. The complex in central Jakarta also houses the World Bank offices and lies just across the road from the Hilton Hotel on the main thoroughfare.
The latest in a string of unsolved bombings of high-profile targets revived the specter of instability in the world's fourth most populous nation and stoked concerns that erratic President Abdurrahman Wahid is not in control.
National police chief General Rusdihardjo quickly announced security would be boosted in the capital. The bombing came on the eve of the resumption of former President Suharto's graft trial, which many fear could trigger violence by his supporters.
An empty bus was blown up near the court venue on the opening day of the trial two weeks ago.
Rusdihardjo and other officials said Wednesday's blast could be linked to the trial, but it was too soon to be certain.
Other targets recently bombed include the attorney-general's office, the Philippine envoy to Jakarta and religious organizations.
No one has claimed responsibility for this or any other attack.
Signalig growing concern for Indonesia's stability, the U.S. Department of State issued a travel advisory last week calling on American travelers to Indonesia and East Timor to "exercise extreme caution, avoiding areas of instability and potentially dangerous situations."