Hundreds of survivors and relatives of the dead yesterday paid tearful tributes to the 202 people killed in the Bali bombings 10 years ago, when Islamist extremists unleashed terror on partying tourists.
On Oct. 12, 2002, suicide bombers attacked two packed nightspots on the holiday island, pitching Indonesia into a battle with Islamic militancy and dealing a morale-sapping blow to Australia, which lost 88 people.
Taiwanese Eve Kuo (郭惠敏), 24, and four members of a Taipei-based rugby club — Australian James Hardman, 28; Englishman Daniel Braden, 28; and Godfrey Fitz, 39, and Craig Harty, 35, both of South Africa — also died in the blasts.
Photo: Reuters
Mourners gathered in Bali shaded themselves under Australian flags as they listened solemnly to a mournful roll call of the dead, some crying or leaning on loved ones’ shoulders as they observed a minute’s silence.
Families of the Australian victims, many of whom were youthful holidaymakers and members of touring sports teams, made the journey to Bali seeking closure to a painful decade.
“I lost my two daughters in the Bali bombing,” said Danny Hanley, father of victims Renae and Simone — the youngest died from her injuries several weeks later in a Perth hospital to become the 88th Australian to perish.
“As we go forward into this new decade year, let us go out with the patient power of knowledge that our God will go with us,” he added.
The strike by the al-Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah, which also left scores of people with horrific burn wounds, came one year after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
The ceremony was held under the watch of 2,000 police and military personnel, including snipers, after Indonesia issued its top alert due to a “credible” terror threat in Bali. However, authorities on Thursday tried to ease fears of an attack.
Under sunny skies, the event in a large cultural park heard moving tributes from families of the victims, who died as the bombers devastated the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar on Bali’s party strip in Kuta.
Speaking at the event, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard recognized the terrible legacy of the attacks, saying “wounds and scars abound, healed and unhealed, but nothing can replace the empty seat at your table.”
However, she also praised the resilience of her people and said Indonesia and Australia, which are sometimes edgy neighbors, “drew closer” than ever before.
Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest Muslim population, won praise for its law-enforcement actions after the bombings and was also lauded for its response after subsequent attacks in 2005 in which 20 people were killed on the island.
In the 10 years since the 2002 attacks, all of the leading Bali perpetrators have either been executed, killed by police in raids or jailed.
Delivering remarks to the thousand-strong crowd of mourners, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said his country remained committed to fighting extremism so that “humanity prevails over hatred.”
Thirty-eight of those killed were from Indonesia, which was stunned by the atrocity on Bali, whose scenic resorts, five-star hotels and backpacker hostels are a vital cog of the country’s tourism engine.
“I feel sensitive and am easily sad. It’s a feeling that always comes when I’m alone, that’s when I shed my tears,” said Ni Luh Erniati, whose husband worked at the Sari Club and was killed.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese