...and you thought the traders at the NYSE have been having it rough...
dailynews.yahoo.com
Wednesday September 13 10:27 AM ET
Massive Car Bomb Hits Jakarta Bourse, Many Dead
Reuters Photo
By Achmad Sukarsono
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A massive car bomb ripped through the garage of the Jakarta stock exchange building Wednesday, killing at least eight people and raising fears that many more victims would be discovered in debris.
The powerful blast revived the specter of instability in the world's fourth most populous country, which has lurched from crisis to crisis since the downfall of President Suharto more than two years ago.
By late evening, rescuers and marines were engaged in the grim task of pulling out charred bodies after reaching the apex of the blast in the garage of the stock market complex in central Jakarta.
``We don't want to count any more because there are still plenty of bodies down there,'' one police intelligence officer who declined to be identified told Reuters.
National police chief General Rusdihardjo said security in the capital would be immediately boosted after the explosion, on the eve of the resumption of Suharto's graft trial.
Rusdihardjo and other military officials said the blast could be linked to that trial, a landmark event which has triggered concerns supporters of the former autocrat who led Indonesia for 32 years might resort to violence.
Police spokesman Nur Usman, speaking to reporters, confirmed the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in a car. Many people in Jakarta employ drivers and it is common for them to wait with the cars while they are parked.
The bomb blast is the latest of many to hit key targets in Jakarta and elsewhere, striking another blow to the government's unsuccessful attempts to convince foreign investors that Indonesia is a safe place to do business.
The blast also compounds the headaches confronting President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is under fire on many fronts including from the international community after three U.N. aid workers were murdered by pro-Jakarta militias in West Timor last week.
Fire raged for several hours after the blast. Because the bomb exploded in the underground garage, the outside of the exchange complex was not seriously damaged.
Exchange Suspends Trading
Exchange officials immediately suspended trading, and said the market might not reopen for two days.
``There will be no trading tomorrow,'' an exchange official said. ``Friday will depend on police investigations.''
The complex in central Jakarta also houses the World Bank offices and lies just across the road from the Hilton Hotel on the capital's main thoroughfare.
City hospitals said they had received dozens of injured suffering burns and cuts. Some are in intensive care.
Indonesia has been rocked by a series of bomb blasts in recent months that have targeted the Attorney-General's office, the Philippine envoy to Jakarta and various religious organizations.
Scores of bomb threats have also added to instability, with some aimed at the central bank, the U.S. embassy in Jakarta and elite residential apartments.
Since Suharto's downfall in May 1998, thousands have died in communal and religious violence around the archipelago. |
