The two bombs that killed more than 200 people in nightclub terror attack
It may have been 22 years since the Bali nightclub bombing, but the impact of the horrific attack is still felt years later.
Some 202 people were killed and hundreds more were injured after two bombs were detonated at one of Indonesia’s most popular tourist destinations.
The victims came from more than 20 different countries, including 28 Brits, with memorials put in place around the world to commemorate those who died.
Since then, the site of one of the explosions has been turned into a memorial for the bombing’s victims, turning a corner of an area well known for its clubs and nightlife into a sombre reminder of Indonesia’s deadliest terror attack.
The chief of police at the time called the bombings the ‘worst act of terror in Indonesia’s history’ – and while the country has been rocked by other attacks since then, few have had the same impact.
When was the Bali bombing?
At 11.05pm on October 12, 2002, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb hidden in his rucksack inside Paddy’s Pub.
Terrified and injured patrons ran outside to escape the blast – but 20 seconds later a much more powerful car bomb hidden inside a van was detonated outside the Sari Club, just across the road.
Shortly after, a much smaller bomb reportedly packed with human excrement was detonated outside the US consulate in Densapar.
Three years on from the attack, the United States-Indonesia Society released a report recreating the bombers’ activities in the lead-up to the explosions.
A Yamaha motorbike and van were purchased, and the bike was used to plant the bomb outside the US consulate.
Two bombers were then driven to Kuta’s nightclub district, with one putting on a suicide vest to go into Paddy’s Pub, and the other told to arm the bomb in the van.
After being picked up on the Yamaha, two organisers headed back into Denpasar to detonate the bomb outside the US consulate using a mobile phone.
The suicide bombers then detonated their explosives vest and the car bomb.
The motorbike was left at a place where it eventually attracted the attention of a caretaker.
Where did it happen?
The attack happened during one of the busiest tourist periods of the year in the Kuta Beach area, driven massively by sports teams celebrating the end of season.
Victims included members of the Singapore Cricket Club’s rugby team, the Taipei Baboons amateur rugby squad, the Hong Kong FC Vandals rugby team and the ISCI Komodos rugby team.
The 28 British victims of the Bali bombings
- Timothy Arnold, 43, a lawyer from Oldbury, Sandwell, was a member of the Singapore Cricket Club’s rugby team which was touring in Bali.
- Neil Bowler, 27, a sales and marketing executive from Worcestershire, was a member of the Singapore Cricket Club’s rugby team which was touring in Bali.
- Daniel Braden, 28, originally from Brighton, was a marketing manager for the drinks conglomerate Diageo in Taiwan. He was on tour in Bali with the Taipei Baboons amateur rugby squad.
- Christopher Bradford, 38, originally from Romford, Essex, was captain of the Singapore Cricket Club’s rugby team and had lived in Singapore for four years.
- Jonathon Ellwood, 37, originally from Aldbury, Hertfordshire, was the director of the International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He was in Bali on holiday and was due to attend an education conference.
- Lucy Empson, 30, from Pinner, north-west London, was a marketing manager with Time-Life magazine group and was holidaying with Emma Fox.
- Emma Fox, 32, from Pinner, north-west London, worked for Nestle and was travelling with friend Lucy Empson.
- Ian Findley, 55, a car mechanic from West Pelton, County Durham, was holidaying with friend Ian Stafford, who survived.
- Laura France, 18, from Sheffield, was travelling in Bali on her gap year with her cousin Natalie Perkins.
- Natalie Perkins, 20, from Sheffield, was travelling with her cousin Laura France. She had taken extended leave from her job in a city centre shop to travel before going to college.
- Marc Gajardo, 30, a mechanic from Carnon Downs, near Truro, Cornwall, was travelling with girlfriend Hanabeth Luke, who survived.
- James Hardman, 28, originally from Kent, was a member of the Taipei Baboons rugby club who were competing in a tournament in Bali.
- Tom Holmes, 39, originally from Droitwich, Worcestershire, was a member of the Hong Kong FC Vandals rugby team who were in Bali to compete in a rugby tournament.
- Paul Hussey, 46, a hotelier originally from Hawkinge, Kent, was living in Bali and running two hotels on the island.
- Christopher Kays, 30, from Reading, was a member of the Singapore Cricket Club’s rugby team which was touring in Bali.
- David Kent, 41, from Yorkshire was a member of the Singapore Cricket Club’s rugby team touring in Bali. He was managing director for multinational company Hayward Filtration in its Singapore office.
- Annika Linden, 30, originally from Surrey, was working in Bangkok as a hotel and tourism consultant and was travelling with the Hong Kong rugby team in Bali and her fiance Mark Weingard.
- Dan (Nathaniel) Miller, 31, was a lawyer from London who was touring with the Hong Kong FC rugby squad. He was travelling with his wife Polly, who was injured.
- Peter Record, 32, from Fulham in west London was a business consultant and played rugby for Hong Kong FC and the Singapore Cricket Club during his trip to Bali.
- Christian Redman, 30, originally from Dover in Kent, was a former captain in the Royal Logistics Corps and an ex-pat player with the Singapore Cricket Club’s rugby team.
- Ben Roberts, 28, was in Bali to play rugby for Jakarta-based expat team the ISCI Komodos. He had lived in Jakarta and worked as an operations manager for International SOS, organising medical clinics for mining companies in remote parts of Indonesia.
- Stephen Speirs, 36, was a financial worker originally from Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, Scotland who was touring Bali with the Hong Kong FC Vandals rugby team.
- Michael Standring, 31, was a Zimbabwean who travelled on a British passport. He was working as a systems engineer for Nokia in Sydney when he took a holiday to Bali.
- Charles Vanrenen, 26, was born in Cape Town, but left South Africa with his family as a young boy to live in England. He studied science at Edinburgh University and at the time of his death he was working as a computer specialist in Singapore. He was a member of the Hong Kong Football Club and Singapore Cricket Club touring in Bali.
- Edward Waller, 26, was born in England but had also lived in Ireland, Thailand and Hong Kong. He studied history at Trinity College Dublin and was a member of the Hong Kong FC rugby team which was touring in Bali.
- Clive Walton, 33, was a marketing executive from Sunderland and a member of the Hong Kong FC rugby team which was touring in Bali.
- Douglas Warner, 35, from Surrey had worked as an interpreter for the United Nations in East Timor, south-east Asia and had planned to settle in Bali with his wife.
- Jamie Wellington, 31, was an expat who taught at the Jakarta International School in Indonesia and was in Bali to play rugby for his team, the ISCI Komodos.
The area, which was both commercial and residential, suffered serious damage from the explosions, with the car bomb leaving a crater in the road 3ft (1metre) deep.
Several buildings were destroyed and windows were shattered several streets away.
The third bomb, which was set off outside the US Consulate, caused only minor injuries to one person and minimal property damage.
How many people died?
Both bombers and 202 victims were killed in the blasts. Of the victims, 88 were Australian, 28 were British, 38 were Indonesian, and the majority were aged under 40 years old – the youngest victim was just 13.
The victims mainly comprised of Western tourists, but a large number were Balinese Indonesians who either worked or lived nearby.
Hundreds of people were injured, with a huge number of victims suffering burns, which the local Sanglah Hospital was not equipped to deal with.
Some of the injured were placed in hotel swimming pools to ease the pain of their burns, while several of all nationalities were flown to Darwin or Perth in Australia to receive specialist burn treatment.
Who was responsible?
The Bali nightclub bombing was carried out by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a jihadist organisation with links to al-Qaeda.
Several JI members have since been sentenced for their involvement in the explosions, with three sentenced to death.
Ali Ghufron said he was the head of one of JI’s four cells and had ordered the Bali bombings to take place.
The plot was funded by another JI leader – Riduan Isamuddin, who was also known as Hambali. He allegedly received the funds to purchase the materials to create the explosives from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
In April 2003, Amrozi bin Haji Nurhasyim, known as Amrozi, was found guilty of buying the explosives and the van used in the bombings.
In total, more than 30 people were arrested on suspicion of their involvement in the Bali attack.
Two other men, Azahari Husin and Dulmatin, who were suspected of building and triggering the bombs were killed during police raids.
What were the sentences for the Bali bombers?
Two of the bombers were killed during the blasts, but a number of people involved in planning the attack were arrested, charged and eventually sentenced.
- Amrozi was sentenced to death for his part in the attacks in August 2003
- Imam Samudra was sentenced to death on September 10, 2003
- Ali Ghufron was sentenced to death on October 1, 2003
- Ali Imron, brother of Amrozi, had expressed remorse for his part in the bombing and was sentenced to life imprisonment on September 18, 2003
- Abu Bakar Bashir was found guilty of conspiracy over the 2002 attacks on March 3, 2005. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, but was freed in June 2006, and by December 2006 his conviction had been overturned by Indonesia’s Supreme Court
- Masykur Abdul Kadir was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2003 for aiding in an act of terrorism. However his conviction was overturned by the Constitutional Court and he was released from prison in 2010 as he had been arrested and convicted on the basis of a law which hadn’t actually passed until after he had violated it
- Hambali was found in Thailand in August 2008 and arrested. He was taken into American custody and is currently at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Amrozi, Samdura and Ghufron were all executed by firing squad on November 9, 2008.
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