2 hotels bombed in Jakarta. AP reports minimum 9 dead, 50 wounded

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/16/indonesia.hotel.explosion/index.html

Marriott and Ritz-Carlton.

1stADD: 6 dead, 29 wounded per AP. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090717/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_explosions_6

CNN reports at least 50 wounded.

2ndADD: Latest AP writethru repeats the 50 wounded number ... 3rdADD: and raises the number of dead to 9.

 

Re: 2 hotels bombed in Jakarta. CNN reports minimum 6 dead

I have a distant friend who lives in Jakarta. Said she was on the way to work when it happened. Fortunately, she is OK. But she is clearly upset. Said the bomb was near her office.

 

That country has been through so much in the last five years.

 

TrooperBari report to this thread.

 

No shit...

 

My first thought when I heard it on the radio. Hope he's OK.

 

I hope he reports soon, too. I'm worried.

 

He's posted over on the soccer thread since this was started.

 

It's very kind of you to think of me. Thanks, folks — flustered as all hell, but physically OK.

For those who don't know, the two hotels that were bombed were to house Manchester United and the Indonesian All-Stars for their exhibition match on Monday. United is still in Kuala Lumpur (they play there on Saturday), and the Indonesian team only missed the blast because they decided to skip breakfast and head straight to the training ground. The match, as you would expect, has been called off.

If I had to guess, I'd say Jemaah Islamiyah was behind this, but there's been no claim of responsibility yet. Another desperate grab for attention while SBY's government keeps up its reforming push.

As you can imagine, the newsroom is buzzing.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/

 

TB: Glad to know you are OK.

I can only imagine what that atmosphere must be like.

Be safe.

 

Good to hear from you, Bari. Hang in there.

 

Busted.<blockquote>JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian police hunting the terrorists behind last month's attacks on hotels in the capital raided one house and besieged another Saturday, killing two suspected militants, arresting five and seizing explosives and a car bomb, a senior officer said.

The developments appeared to be the first major break in the investigations into the attacks, which killed nine people and broke a four-year gap in terror strikes in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.</blockquote>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090808/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_terror_suspect_12