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CNN Live Saturday

Two Explosions Jolt Indonesian Island

Aired October 12, 2002 - 17:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Two explosions jolted the Indonesian island of Bali late on Saturday. The first blast was in a disco, in the hub of the night life district, Kuta Beach, which is on the south of the island. Officials say at least 20 people were killed, hundreds more injured. And then not long after that, it was a second explosion near the U.S. consulate in Demphasar (ph), which is just north of Kuta Beach. Police in Bali say the first explosion may have been accidental, though the U.S. embassy in Jakarta says initial evidence points to a car bomb.
We are joined on the phone right now by Robert Koster. Where are you now, Robert?

ROBERT KOSTER, JOURNALIST: Right now, we're about 20 minutes from the -- I guess you'd say epicenter of the bomb.

COOPER: No, where -- did you -- where were you when the blast occurred?

KOSTER: We were about 10 minutes away, and as soon as we heard about it, we rushed over, and it was -- we thought it was a small explosion, but it was more like a city block went up.

COOPER: We understand that the blast occurred in a nightclub. Is that what you saw?

KOSTER: Yeah -- except -- what happened was, actually there were two blasts. First, there was a blast and -- near the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And after that blast, people came out, and the second blast went off shortly -- and it was a huge car bomb.

COOPER: Now, this is in Kuta Beach, is that right?

KOSTER: That's in Kuta. Well, it's not on the beach itself, but yeah, it's in Kuta, that's right.

COOPER: OK, just for our viewers, just to inform them, Kuta is an area in -- a town on the south part of the island of Bali, basically where a lot of foreigners go, a lot of Australians, Americans, Europeans go. There are a lot of nightclubs, a lot of bars. Is that correct?

KOSTER: That's correct. These were the two biggest bars in Kuta. And Sari especially was actually an exclusively a foreigners' bar.

COOPER: What was the scene like? I mean, how do you describe it? When you got to the scene, what did you see?

KOSTER: Well, when I got to the scene, there was just fire everywhere. And I expected to see maybe one building, but at least from the epicenter where the car bomb went off, probably one block, block and a half, was just all on fire. Bombs were -- I mean, the cars were just crunched up. There were bodies in the cars that were -- there were bodies everywhere, which was shocking.

COOPER: Do you have a sense of how many casualties you saw?

KOSTER: Well, I was there filming so, yeah, I saw at least -- well, at least 30 people.

COOPER: What -- but -- go ahead.

KOSTER: No, go ahead.

COOPER: We're also hearing reports that there was another blast in Demphasar (ph), near the U.S. consulate. Do you know anything about that?

KOSTER: Yeah, that -- I don't think that anything's been confirmed about that. I talked to several people who said that the U.S. consulate was bombed, but I don't -- I don't know -- that hasn't been confirmed.

COOPER: What time did this blast occur? We're seeing some pictures of what looks like a car burning, some wreckage. What time did the blast occur?

KOSTER: Yeah, it occurred approximately 10:00.

COOPER: 10:00 at night, so this place was just packed on a Saturday night?

KOSTER: Yeah, from speaking to my friend, who is basically a resident here, she says around that time there's usually about 200 people in the Sari club. Sari club seems to be the main target, for whatever reason. The car bomb was right outside there.

COOPER: Now, I mean, I've spent some time in Bali traveling around and it's a pretty rudimentary island. What sort of services are there in terms of hospitals and police?

KOSTER: That's a good question. Well, I don't know about hospitals, but in terms of what I saw on the scene, there was -- there were a lot of fire trucks and ambulances, but it was -- it was pretty rudimentary. I mean, there were no lights, it was pitch black, and there were telephone wires hanging everywhere. There was just basically wreckage everywhere, but -- you didn't see anything, so it was really dark and -- the fire trucks were trying to put out the fires as best they could, but -- yeah, the -- they were just kind of letting everything burn.

COOPER: Obviously, this has been a region of the world, especially in Indonesia, where there has been a lot of trouble in the last couple of years. Bali draws a lot of foreigners. It is a predominantly Muslim country. As you were there, before this blast, did you or any of the people you were with -- or what was the screen like? Do people there seem very concerned? Did the number of foreigners seem to have dropped in the last couple of days and weeks of people visiting?

KOSTER: I don't know about that, about the number of foreigners. I'm sure it's going to drop. And actually, everyone I talked to, all the Balinese, that was the main concern, is that, you know, this is basically going to chill the whole economy because of this, you know, the fact -- the motorcyclist that took me home, you know, he was basically -- he was almost crying because, you know, it's basically going to stifle everything here.

COOPER: Yeah, a lot of people like to go to Bali for their weddings, their honeymoons.

KOSTER: Exactly.

COOPER: It's a beautiful, beautiful island. The south is very developed. It's where, as we said, a lot of foreigners go, particularly Australians.

KOSTER: Exactly.

COOPER: And Robert, we appreciate you joining us for this breaking story, and we will try to check in with you in a little while. Thanks very much.

KOSTER: OK. Thank you very much.

COOPER: All right. Stay safe.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 12, 2002 - 17:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Two explosions jolted the Indonesian island of Bali late on Saturday. The first blast was in a disco, in the hub of the night life district, Kuta Beach, which is on the south of the island. Officials say at least 20 people were killed, hundreds more injured. And then not long after that, it was a second explosion near the U.S. consulate in Demphasar (ph), which is just north of Kuta Beach. Police in Bali say the first explosion may have been accidental, though the U.S. embassy in Jakarta says initial evidence points to a car bomb.
We are joined on the phone right now by Robert Koster. Where are you now, Robert?

ROBERT KOSTER, JOURNALIST: Right now, we're about 20 minutes from the -- I guess you'd say epicenter of the bomb.

COOPER: No, where -- did you -- where were you when the blast occurred?

KOSTER: We were about 10 minutes away, and as soon as we heard about it, we rushed over, and it was -- we thought it was a small explosion, but it was more like a city block went up.

COOPER: We understand that the blast occurred in a nightclub. Is that what you saw?

KOSTER: Yeah -- except -- what happened was, actually there were two blasts. First, there was a blast and -- near the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And after that blast, people came out, and the second blast went off shortly -- and it was a huge car bomb.

COOPER: Now, this is in Kuta Beach, is that right?

KOSTER: That's in Kuta. Well, it's not on the beach itself, but yeah, it's in Kuta, that's right.

COOPER: OK, just for our viewers, just to inform them, Kuta is an area in -- a town on the south part of the island of Bali, basically where a lot of foreigners go, a lot of Australians, Americans, Europeans go. There are a lot of nightclubs, a lot of bars. Is that correct?

KOSTER: That's correct. These were the two biggest bars in Kuta. And Sari especially was actually an exclusively a foreigners' bar.

COOPER: What was the scene like? I mean, how do you describe it? When you got to the scene, what did you see?

KOSTER: Well, when I got to the scene, there was just fire everywhere. And I expected to see maybe one building, but at least from the epicenter where the car bomb went off, probably one block, block and a half, was just all on fire. Bombs were -- I mean, the cars were just crunched up. There were bodies in the cars that were -- there were bodies everywhere, which was shocking.

COOPER: Do you have a sense of how many casualties you saw?

KOSTER: Well, I was there filming so, yeah, I saw at least -- well, at least 30 people.

COOPER: What -- but -- go ahead.

KOSTER: No, go ahead.

COOPER: We're also hearing reports that there was another blast in Demphasar (ph), near the U.S. consulate. Do you know anything about that?

KOSTER: Yeah, that -- I don't think that anything's been confirmed about that. I talked to several people who said that the U.S. consulate was bombed, but I don't -- I don't know -- that hasn't been confirmed.

COOPER: What time did this blast occur? We're seeing some pictures of what looks like a car burning, some wreckage. What time did the blast occur?

KOSTER: Yeah, it occurred approximately 10:00.

COOPER: 10:00 at night, so this place was just packed on a Saturday night?

KOSTER: Yeah, from speaking to my friend, who is basically a resident here, she says around that time there's usually about 200 people in the Sari club. Sari club seems to be the main target, for whatever reason. The car bomb was right outside there.

COOPER: Now, I mean, I've spent some time in Bali traveling around and it's a pretty rudimentary island. What sort of services are there in terms of hospitals and police?

KOSTER: That's a good question. Well, I don't know about hospitals, but in terms of what I saw on the scene, there was -- there were a lot of fire trucks and ambulances, but it was -- it was pretty rudimentary. I mean, there were no lights, it was pitch black, and there were telephone wires hanging everywhere. There was just basically wreckage everywhere, but -- you didn't see anything, so it was really dark and -- the fire trucks were trying to put out the fires as best they could, but -- yeah, the -- they were just kind of letting everything burn.

COOPER: Obviously, this has been a region of the world, especially in Indonesia, where there has been a lot of trouble in the last couple of years. Bali draws a lot of foreigners. It is a predominantly Muslim country. As you were there, before this blast, did you or any of the people you were with -- or what was the screen like? Do people there seem very concerned? Did the number of foreigners seem to have dropped in the last couple of days and weeks of people visiting?

KOSTER: I don't know about that, about the number of foreigners. I'm sure it's going to drop. And actually, everyone I talked to, all the Balinese, that was the main concern, is that, you know, this is basically going to chill the whole economy because of this, you know, the fact -- the motorcyclist that took me home, you know, he was basically -- he was almost crying because, you know, it's basically going to stifle everything here.

COOPER: Yeah, a lot of people like to go to Bali for their weddings, their honeymoons.

KOSTER: Exactly.

COOPER: It's a beautiful, beautiful island. The south is very developed. It's where, as we said, a lot of foreigners go, particularly Australians.

KOSTER: Exactly.

COOPER: And Robert, we appreciate you joining us for this breaking story, and we will try to check in with you in a little while. Thanks very much.

KOSTER: OK. Thank you very much.

COOPER: All right. Stay safe.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com