Jakarta -Indonesia Bombs blast at Ritz, Marriott, photo, video -updated

At around 7:48 am local time (0:48 UTC) on July 17, 2009, the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia, were hit by separate bombings five minutes apart. fatalities, including four foreigners and one person from New Zealand were reported. Police also reported a further 29 injured in the blasts, although most recent figures suggest this has now risen to 50.

The 2009 bombings in Jakarta were the latest in a series of bombings in Indonesia

Update 1: Washington Post

At Least Six Killed In Hotel Bombings

Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz and killing at least six people, police and hospital officials said.

A hospital doctor said 18 people were injured in the blasts at the neighboring hotels in an upscale Jakarta neighborhood. Debris and shattered glass littered the street outside the hotels, and ambulances were being shuttled into the area.

Update 2: from Associated Press

Blasts at Jakarta Ritz, Marriott kill 9, wound 50

Bombs minutes apart ripped through two luxury hotels in Jakarta Friday, killing nine and wounding at least 50 more, ending a four-year lull in terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. At least 14 foreigners were among the dead and wounded.

The blasts at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, located side-by-side in an upscale business district in the capital, blew out windows and scattered debris and glass across the street, kicking up a thick plume of smoke. Facades of both hotels were reduced to twisted metal. More

Update 3: Wall Street Journal

Some of the victims of Indonesia's deadly hotel bombings were attending an Indonesian business forum held at Jakarta's J.W. Marriott hotel Friday morning.

The meeting, organized by CastleAsia, a well-known Indonesian consulting firm run by an American, was part of a series of events sponsored by the firm that gathers prominent business executives and political leaders to discuss Indonesian affairs.

Timothy Mackay, chief executive of Holcim Indonesia, the local unit of Swiss cement maker Holcim Ltd., was killed attending the event. James Castle, CastleAsia's founder and a well-known analyst on Indonesian affairs, was among those injured. An employee at CastleAsia said he was recovering at a Jakarta hospital from unspecified injuries. Mr. Castle was also in the J.W. Marriott when it was bombed in 2003, killing 12, but he was not injured in that incident. More

Update 4: CNN

Explosions tore through two luxury hotels Friday morning in south Jakarta, Indonesia, killing at least eight people, a presidential spokesman said. More

Update 5: Jakarta hotel attacks are barbaric: Kevin Rudd Australian Prime Minister

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has condemned a terrorist attack on two luxury hotels in Jakarta as a barbaric act of murder.

Bombs tore through the Ritz-Carlton hotel and the nearby JW Marriott on Friday morning, killing at least nine people including a New Zealander and other foreigners, and injuring more than 40 others.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade believes at least two Australians have been injured in the explosions.

Update 6: Jakarta hotel blasts were high explosive: Police

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Sukarna said preliminary investigations show the fatal explosions that hit Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels were caused by high explosives

"We need further examination to determine whether the bombing was a suicide bombing or another type of bombing," he said.

A Police Bomb Squad (Gegana) officer said the explosions could be positively identified as caused by high explosives based on the impacts. "The explosion in the basement broke glass on the third floor. That is huge," he said.

Update 7: People were crying and running: BBC

The first I knew about it was when some colleagues in the country actually gave me a phone call to tell me to get the hell out of the hotel. So I tried calling up reception, there was no answer.

Then I noticed the TV wasn't working. So I looked out of the window and saw, I could see down to ground level and I saw there was a lot of broken glass. So I thought it was time to actually get out. There was no evacuation warning or anything.

I guess the surreal thing was going down in the elevator and walking through the lobby and looking across to my left and noticing the actual cafe was completely blown out. More