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American Morning
Jakarta Car Bomb Kills 10
Aired August 05, 2003 - 07:07 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to try take you back now to Jakarta, Indonesia, where we know about 1:38 a.m. this morning Eastern Time a car bomb exploded at a hotel there. You're looking at the pictures on the screen now. It's a Marriott hotel in Jakarta. At least 10 people dead, 75 more injured.
We have CNN's Atika Shubert on the line now. We're going to try to get the very latest from her once again -- Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Sorry about the interruption before. As you can imagine, it's a pretty chaotic scene at the moment.
I'm actually looking straight into what used to be the lobby of the Marriott hotel. It's now partially destroyed. Columns have been blown out by the blast. The first floor restaurant that was here, all of the glass walls have been blown in.
And police are saying that most of those that were injured and killed were actually sitting in the restaurant having lunch when, around 12:30 in the afternoon local time, a car pulled up and exploded right in front of the restaurant and lobby.
Now, most of the people have been evacuated out of the hotel. There are more than 75 people injured. They have been brought to nearby hospitals, many of them critically injured with severe burns.
Now, police say no one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, and they don't have any leads yet as to who might have carried out the blast. But, of course, there is a lot of suspicion placed on a group called the Jemmah Islamiyah, which is an al Qaeda-linked group of Islamic radicals that did carry out the Bali bombing attacks in October last year. That attack killed 200 people.
And police have been saying for weeks now that Jemmah Islamiyah was planning another attack. So, there is at the top of everyone's mind a big concern that Jemmah Islamiyah may have struck again.
COLLINS: And, Atika, we should also point out that in just two days from now, the final verdict in that very case will be handed down, looking at this group in particular.
But I do want to ask you a little bit about what we brought up a moment ago, and that is the security of this hotel. We know that it is a very tightly-guarded hotel. What are police saying about that at this point? SHUBERT: This was one of the most tightly-guarded hotels in the city, particularly because it hosted a number of events by the American embassy. I've been into this hotel a number of times, and each time I've gone in there has been a metal detector at every entrance. They check all of your bags. Every car that was parked in the basement went through a thorough check.
However, the lobby was very vulnerable to attacks. The way it's shaped is sort of a u-shape, and you can drive your car in, drop off passengers and drive out.
And in this case, police are saying somebody drove a car filled with explosives straight into the lobby and detonated it. Now, they don't know the specifics of what kinds of explosives, who exactly detonated, whether or not it was a suicide bomber. They're hoping to get those clues shortly.
Obviously, even though it was tightly guarded, it was vulnerable to attack. So, security has been stepped up across the city. Embassies are now considering whether or not they should put in more travel warnings to Indonesia, which has already had a number of travel warnings because of the threat of terrorist attacks, and a repeat of the Bali bombings last year, and apparently now this new terrorist attack against the Marriott hotel.
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Atika Shubert live for us this morning from Jakarta. Atika, thanks so much.
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 August 5, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to try take you back now to Jakarta, Indonesia, where we know about 1:38 a.m. this morning Eastern Time a car bomb exploded at a hotel there. You're looking at the pictures on the screen now. It's a Marriott hotel in Jakarta. At least 10 people dead, 75 more injured.
We have CNN's Atika Shubert on the line now. We're going to try to get the very latest from her once again -- Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Sorry about the interruption before. As you can imagine, it's a pretty chaotic scene at the moment.
I'm actually looking straight into what used to be the lobby of the Marriott hotel. It's now partially destroyed. Columns have been blown out by the blast. The first floor restaurant that was here, all of the glass walls have been blown in.
And police are saying that most of those that were injured and killed were actually sitting in the restaurant having lunch when, around 12:30 in the afternoon local time, a car pulled up and exploded right in front of the restaurant and lobby.
Now, most of the people have been evacuated out of the hotel. There are more than 75 people injured. They have been brought to nearby hospitals, many of them critically injured with severe burns.
Now, police say no one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, and they don't have any leads yet as to who might have carried out the blast. But, of course, there is a lot of suspicion placed on a group called the Jemmah Islamiyah, which is an al Qaeda-linked group of Islamic radicals that did carry out the Bali bombing attacks in October last year. That attack killed 200 people.
And police have been saying for weeks now that Jemmah Islamiyah was planning another attack. So, there is at the top of everyone's mind a big concern that Jemmah Islamiyah may have struck again.
COLLINS: And, Atika, we should also point out that in just two days from now, the final verdict in that very case will be handed down, looking at this group in particular.
But I do want to ask you a little bit about what we brought up a moment ago, and that is the security of this hotel. We know that it is a very tightly-guarded hotel. What are police saying about that at this point? SHUBERT: This was one of the most tightly-guarded hotels in the city, particularly because it hosted a number of events by the American embassy. I've been into this hotel a number of times, and each time I've gone in there has been a metal detector at every entrance. They check all of your bags. Every car that was parked in the basement went through a thorough check.
However, the lobby was very vulnerable to attacks. The way it's shaped is sort of a u-shape, and you can drive your car in, drop off passengers and drive out.
And in this case, police are saying somebody drove a car filled with explosives straight into the lobby and detonated it. Now, they don't know the specifics of what kinds of explosives, who exactly detonated, whether or not it was a suicide bomber. They're hoping to get those clues shortly.
Obviously, even though it was tightly guarded, it was vulnerable to attack. So, security has been stepped up across the city. Embassies are now considering whether or not they should put in more travel warnings to Indonesia, which has already had a number of travel warnings because of the threat of terrorist attacks, and a repeat of the Bali bombings last year, and apparently now this new terrorist attack against the Marriott hotel.
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Atika Shubert live for us this morning from Jakarta. Atika, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
