Bangkok--Oct 3--eTurboNews
Appeal to the world to work with the tourism industry in Bali
Medical teams have been attending to wounded foreigners At least 19 people have been killed in a series of explosions on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
Many others were reported to have been injured in the blasts at Kuta beach - the area most popular with Western tourists - and at Jimbaran beach.
There is no firm word yet on what caused the blasts which happened just before 2000 local time (1200 GMT).
Nearly three years ago, 202 people died in nightclub bomb attacks in Kuta that were blamed on Islamic extremists.
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told the BBC there had been two explosions at Jimbaran and another in Kuta, within about 10 minutes.
He said the Kuta blast "took place in a very crowded area, so obviously if it is confirmed as a bomb, then it is aimed at causing as many casualties and victims as possible, it would appear."
Feisol Hashim, a hotel owner in Kuta Beach and PATA official told eTurboNews from the PATA Mart in Kuala Lumpur:
One explosion happened at a popular restaurant on Kuta Square across from the Hard Rock Hotel and Starbucks and the Kuta Square shops. Feisol's staff is on the scene and is monitoring the situation for eTurboNews.
Additional explosions were reported from the famous Jimbaran fish market on the beach, a popular area with local restaurants on the sand of Jimbaran Beach.
eTurboNews tried to reach the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and their top marketing advisor Mr. Thamrin, who is currently also attending the PATA Mart. Phone calls were not yet returned.
A British tourist who was in a building next door to a restaurant that was hit in Kuta said there was a "thunderous boom" that caused all the shop's windows to blow out.
"It was just chaos," Daniel Martin told the BBC.
He said there were people lying in the streets with serious injuries, with everyone pitching in to help.
A hospital official told Reuters news agency that at least 35 wounded foreigners had been taken to the island's main hospital.
However he was unable to say whether foreigners were among the dead.
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has condemned the blasts, Reuters news agency reports.
His spokesman said he was heading to the island.
Warnings
The blasts come less than two weeks before the third anniversary of bomb attacks that killed 202 people - many of them foreigners holidaying in Bali.
The 12 October 2002 bombings have been blamed on Jemaah Islamiah (JI), - a south-east Asian militant group which is said to have links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
JI is also suspected of being behind a suicide bombing at the Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 11 people in 2003, and a suicide bombing at the Australian embassy last September in which eight people were killed.
The BBC's Tim Johnston in Jakarta says the authorities had warned that militants had been planning further attacks on Western targets in Indonesia, although there had been no particular alerts
Hashim confirmed to eTurboNews, that Indonesia was on Red Alert. He also reminded to see this unfortunate attack as less than what happened in London or Madrid. He still claims Bali is a safe destination and sporadic terrorist attacks can happen anywhere. Like his hotel (The Alam Kul Kul in Kuta) most hotels have effective security in place. It may explain this attack to be perpetrated at restaurants outside hotels.
Just today Bali put in the bit to host the 2007 PATA Mart. Feisol urges the industry to keep everything in perspective and it would be wrong to hurt the travel industry in Bali to put more warnings and negative news in place.
Bali this time is better prepared. The hospital alert system was immediately implemented and it seems to be working.
The situation is now fully under control. Feisol admits, this is a terrible situation for the tourism industry in Bali. Bali worked very hard for 3 years to overcome the negative effect of the disco attack.
Feisol appeals for the tourism industry to join, work together and fight the global evil of terrorism.
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