Indonesian National Police Chief General Da’i Bachtiar said there were similarities between the scenes of the bomb attack on a Jakarta hotel on Tuesday and the devastating blast in Bali last October.
Speaking to journalists, Bachtiar referred to car parts that were thrown huge distances after the blast at the JW Marriott Hotel and to a large hole at the entrance to the hotel’s lobby, opening into the parking basement below.
”These conditions are similar to the bombings in Bali. There is a large hole. There is a car chassis, etc,” Bachtiar said.
But he quickly added that ”this is just an analysis, not yet a conclusion”.
Also, in both cases there were body parts not far from the centre of the blast, he said. He did not refer to reports that suicide bombers may have been behind the attack on the luxury hotel, which was popular with Westerners.
Police have said that in the Bali bombings a suicide bomber exploded a bomb-laden vest in Paddy’s bar moments before an explosives-laden van blew up outside Sari Club across the street.
More than 200 people, most of them Western holidaymakers, died in the Bali attacks.
Bachtiar said forensic laboratory analysis was being conducted to determine the composition of Marriott bomb and Indonesian investigators had already sought cooperation from the Australian Federal Police, who earlier provided crucial assistance in solving the Bali bombing.
The lunchtime blast at the luxury JW Marriott hotel left at least 13 people dead and 149 injured, the Indonesian Red Cross said. – Sapa-AFP