BBC World News, Thursday, 6 June, 2002, 21:46 GMT 22:46 UK
Indonesian bus blast kills four
[Photo: The bus with 25 passengers was ripped apart in the blast]
Four people have been killed and 17 injured in an bomb explosion on a crowded bus in
Indonesia, officials have said.
The explosion took place on the eastern island of Sulawesi, about 10 kilometres (six
miles) north-west of its destination, the provincial capital of Poso.
The bus, carrying about 25 people, was ripped apart in the blast.
Indonesian National Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar said the explosion was an
attempt to provoke religious unrest following a peace deal signed between Muslims
and Christians in December.
"The bus explosion... was an effort at provocation by those who do not want the
people of this region to live in safety and peace," he said.
Mystery passengers
Police Commissioner Sukirno, quoted by the Satunet online news service, said the
blast damaged the entire left side of the bus, ripped off part of the roof and dislodged
several seats.
He said police were trying to trace three people who had got off the bus about 15
kilometres (nine miles) before the site of the explosion.
The explosion happened on Wednesday afternoon, but news only reached the capital
Jakarta on Thursday because of the remoteness of the region.
The victims - some of them injured seriously - were rushed to a local hospital. Two
people died in hospital, while two others died at the scene of the blast, said a nurse.
Military pull-out
The bomb was the worst violence to hit the region since the December peace deal.
That agreement was intended to end three years of religious fighting in which more
than 1,000 people were killed.
Local newspapers reported that a series of homemade bombs exploded there last
week. No one was injured but a number of shops were destroyed.
The Jakarta Post newspaper reported on Saturday that the Indonesian military had
begun withdrawing about 1,500 troops from Sulawesi. Military officials said the pull-out
showed security had improved there.
Following the Sulawesi peace deal, a similar pact was reached in February between
Muslims and Christians in the Moluccas islands to the east of Sulawesi.
That agreement has also been threatened by bombings and other acts of violence.
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