LAKSAMANA.Net, September 14, 2004 11:58 PM
More Victims Identified, Toll Could Reach 11
Laksamana.Net - The eighth and ninth victims of last Thursday's suicide car bombing
at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta have been identified as innocent civilians, while
police say the final death toll from the blast could reach 11.
Relatives of Armansyah Putra (24) on Tuesday (14/9/04) identified him from body
parts at the police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta. His remains were later buried
at Rawamangun Cemetery in East Jakarta.
The victim's father Chairul Rasyid expressed gratitude to police and the media for
helping with the identification of his son and ending speculation that he might have
been a suicide bomber.
"We had spent five days at the hospital and now today the family can take [the
remains]. We are very grateful to the mass media, the police and their associates for
their help," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
"Our child was cruelly taken by irresponsible people," he added, shedding tears.
On Monday, relatives of the eighth victim, Martinus Sitania (29), identified him from a
ring on a hand found at the scene of the blast. His remains were handed over to his
parents on Tuesday.
All nine of the victims identified so far were Indonesians. Police say at least one or
two suicide bombers were also killed in the blast, but they are yet to be identified, as
their bodies were blown into so many pieces.
Severed body parts were still being found on Tuesday. Investigators discovered a
severed foot and part of a skull with some intact hair on the fifth floor of the Menara
Gracia office building next to the embassy. The two body parts are believed to be from
a suicide bomber.
National Police criminal investigation chief Commissioner General Suyitno Landung
said the death toll could rise to 11.
He said forensic experts are examining 117 dismembered body parts and conducting
DNA tests in an effort to match them. The DNA tests started Tuesday and will take at
least a week, he added.
Landung said up to two of three men recruited for suicide bombings might have driven
the van laden with explosives to the gates of the embassy in Kuningan, South
Jakarta.
"There are suspects who are still at large and who had told their families they were
ready to carry out a suicide mission," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
He named the three suspects as Akbar, Kobra and Sudadi.
"We have collected blood samples from their family members and we will match those
with some 117 body parts found at the blast scene," he added.
Landung said a terror suspect arrested prior to the embassy bombing had told police
that wanted terrorist Noordin Mohammad Top had recruited the three suicide bombers
from Jakarta, East Java and West Java.
Remote Detonation Theory
Detikcom on Tuesday quoted an unnamed source at the National Police forensics
laboratory as saying there were signs the bomb might have been detonated remotely
about one kilometer from the scene of the blast.
"It's possible the bomb blast was triggered from a distance. It's possible a remote was
used," said the official.
He said that although a detonator was found in a fishpond at the embassy, it might
have been set off by someone who was up to a kilometer away to avoid being injured
by the blast.
The theory of a remote detonation trigger would fit the pattern of previous attacks
conducted by Jemaah Islamiyah.
In the Bali bombings, the main car bomb outside the Sari Club was detonated with a
cellular phone. A mobile phone was also used to detonate the car bomb at the
Marriott Hotel.
Forensics police chief Brigadier General Dudon Satiaputra said Tuesday the
explosives used in the embassy attack might have been placed above the gearbox
and engine of the vehicle used to carry the bomb, as they had been blown to
smithereens.
The Nine Victims
1. Anton Sujarwo (24). A security guard at the embassy. He was from the Muktiharjo
area of Central Lampung in southern Sumatra.
2. Suryadi (46). A gardener at the embassy. He was from Jatibaru in Pondok Labu,
South Jakarta.
3. Mukhofir (46). Also listed as Mugofir. A mechanic for a state company. He was
from Pondok Gede in Bekasi, south of Jakarta.
4. Maria Eva Kumalawati (27). Eva was from the Binong Permai area of Tangerang
city, Banten province, west of Jakarta. Her five-year-old daughter, Elisabeth Manuela
'Manny' Bambina Musu, was seriously injured in the blast and remains hospitalized in
Singapore. The child is now the subject of a custody dispute between her biological
father, an Australian police officer, and her stepfather, an Italian who married Eva in
1998.
5. Rina Dewi Puspita (20). An accountancy student at Perbanas College of
Economics on Jalan Perbanas, near Jalan Rasuna Said. She was from Tanjung Priok,
North Jakarta. She was killed while riding pillion on a motorbike outside the embassy.
6. Suyatno (31). The driver of the motorbike carrying Rina Dewi Puspita.
6. Asep Syaifuddin (32). A surveyor with Bank Indonesia Internasional (BII) Finance.
He was from Cilincing, North Jakarta.
8. Armansyah Putra (24). An employee of courier company PT Bakti Karsa Putra. He
was from Cipinang Muara, East Jakarta. He was riding a motorbike past the embassy
at the time of the blast.
9. Martinus Sitania (29). An employee of CV Tirta Agung. He was from Bojong Lio
village in Depok, south of Jakarta. He was riding a motorbike past the embassy at the
time of the blast.
Three police injured in the blast remain hospitalized in a critical condition.
Copyright © 2000 - 2004 Laksamana.net, All Rights Reserved.
|
