JIMBARAN, INDONESIA: Hundreds of survivors and relatives of the dead paid tearful tributes yesterday to the 202 people killed in the Bali bombings 10 years ago.
On Oct. 12, 2002, suicide bombers attacked two packed nightspots on the holiday island, pitching Indonesia into a battle with militancy and dealing a morale-sapping blow to Australia, which lost 88 people.
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.
The strike by the Al-Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which also left scores of people with horrific burn wounds, came one year after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
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.
Choking back tears Australian Victor Parkinson, who lost his cousin Donna in the blasts, said the ceremony did justice to the victims, adding that nothing would replace the loss of a relative who was “more like a sister” to him.
“But I’ve now got a place I can come and visit all the time. I know where she is, she loved Bali... and I don’t blame the Bali people, not at all.” 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”.
But 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.
Ten years on, Bali victims remembered
