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The 2002 Bali Bombing occurred on October 12, 2002 in the town of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people and injuring a further 209. Just after 11pm, a backpacker walked into Paddy's Bar carrying a bomb in his backpack, and set it off. He was killed in the explosion, and injured people nearby. They then rushed out into the street. But about 15 seconds later, a much bigger car bomb was exploded by remote control, killing many people and leaving a big crater. It blew out windows through the whole town. |
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Most of the people killed were young holiday makers from other countries. The biggest number were Australian, but there were also three New Zealanders killed. Many Balinese and Indonesians who worked in the area were also killed. The hospitals in the area could not cope with the huge number of people with terrible injuries. A lot of them had very bad burns. Some were flown to Australia for treatment. |
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There was a lot of talk about whether the injured tourists were treated first and looked after better, before taking care of the local people who had been hurt. Do you think this might have happened? |
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Some of the people involved in planning and carrying out the attack have been arrested, but some are still at large. They were Indonesians, and belonged to Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist group operating in that area. The men who have been tried and found guilty have either been given prison sentences, or the death penalty (which has not yet been carried out). |
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The bombing had a terrible effect on the people of Bali. They rely on tourists to earn money to feed their families, and the tourists did not want to come to a place where things like this could happen. The Balinese people are Hindu (not Islamic like most Indonesians) and are a very gentle and peace-loving people. They were horrified that such a thing could happen in their beautiful island. |