Australian Tourists Describe Bali Bombing
2002-10-13

Category Bombing Nations Indonesia Event 2002 Bali Bombing

SYDNEY, Australia - For many Australians, Americans and other foreigners, Bali is the dream vacation island - a beautiful, exotic and peaceful patch of paradise.

On Saturday night, a terrorist blast ripped through a crowded nightclub on the Indonesian island, killing scores and shattering that image.

``There was more blood, the smell of burnt skin and the pain that they were in - you can't really put that into words,'' Australian tourist Martin Lyons told Australian television's Channel Nine on Sunday, after he helped pull victims out of the wreckage at the Sari nightclub.

He said the people he helped had ``pretty horrific wounds'' and were all Australian tourists.

The blast, blamed by Indonesian and Australian authorities on terrorists, killed 171 people and injured 274 in the nightclub, located in the town of Kuta, police said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australian and other foreign tourists almost certainly were the target.

Australian tourist David Hodder, a member of the Forbes Rugby Club from the western New South Wales state, was on an end-of-season tour to the island.

He was inside the club when a small explosion like a firecracker was followed by an enormous explosion that knocked revelers to the ground.

``When I came to, the roof was down with flames flying out of it, and people running over me,'' he said.

Hodder said about 80 percent of those in the club were Australians.

``They didn't all get out,'' he added.

Another Australian tourist, 18-year-old Rachel Hughes, said she and her boyfriend had just arrived in Kuta when the blast occurred, smashing the window of their hotel room.

``Standing in the foyer of the Bounty Hotel, people were just walking in, blood dripping off them, burns to their face, skin coming off them. It was really a terrible sight,'' she said. ``You could just hear people crying up in the Bounty foyer - obviously they have lost loved ones or friends.''

National carrier Qantas scheduled two extra flights to evacuate survivors, and an Australian air force Hercules C-130 set off for Bali from Richmond near Sydney.

The flights were not expected back in Australia until early Monday.

The foreign ministry said one medical evacuation of about 10 seriously wounded Australians could reach the northern city of Darwin by late Sunday.

Another Australian, Rick Elliot, managed to catch a flight to Darwin after the blast. He was inside the Sari club when the bomb went off but escaped with minor cuts.

Asked about his condition, he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.: ``Just a bit dazed. I changed my clothes, it was fairly bloody ... I just wanted to get as a far away as I could.'' AP