Aug 03
05
Marriott's Bombing
I was there... about 150 metres from the exact location of the bombing. I was about to eat lunch at the grhaXL (located behind Menara Rajawali building that adjacent to Marriott) building's cafetaria with a couple of my office's colleague when suddenly a very loud *thump* sound accompanied with a rather big earthquake that shattered the cafetaria. All the people inside suddenly went quiet for a couple of seconds and then ran away outward.
At the outside, me and my colleague looking around tried to find the source of the loud noise and we saw smoke rising from Marriott building and since we were standing behind Marriott we could only guess what had happened. Suddenly our driver ran to us and told us that he saw a big explosion in front of Marriott. So we ran alongside Menara Rajawali (the view to Marriott is blocked by Menara Rajawali) and when we arrived at the front of Menara Rajawali we just stop and went into still silence while our eyes transfixed by the horror of black dense smoke in front of Marriott... Behind the thick smoke we could barely see the shattered window on Plaza Mutiara (a building adjacent to Marriott) and Marriott.
When the smoke cleared the horror was still there because now we can see clearly the rather large fire (which fortunately put out quickly) and the ruin of the lobby part of both building. I turned around because I knew I will see dead bodies there and the thought of it really sent a chill to my inner bone...
I walked away to the open field beside Menara Rajawali and sit there watching the police blockaded the road and the paramedic rushed into the building. There was nothing I could do beside watching people suffered... I was totally scared and numb...
This experience was something I will not be easy to forget...
More news about Marriott's bombing from Google.
10 Comments
im on the way to menara rajawali for meeting…, i call my ex-boss cause his office in menara rajawali.
thanks god he is fine, the meeting is schedule for 11 o’clock, but i cancelled into 13.00 cause i have to go to mika’s school.
and i dont know what happen if im not reschedule the meeting and if you go to rajawali around 11 to 12 they will tell u to park your car in jw marriot.
i just say thanks God.
thal & desi: still kinda jumpy when hearing a loud noise, but i’ll survive.. thanks =)
enda: you are not a bomb magnet, aren’t you? =)
yoel: yes.. thanks God for that.
They bombed our client. Nasty … very nasty. A couple of projects are now in danger, but I care more about the situation and my heart goes out to all the victims and we’re a victim as well!
My entire day was ruined, the whole studio just sat in front of the tely, watching the outcome of stupid act.
Nasty ………..
I’m just sooo grateful that there was no meeting at that day. The ideal meeting place for us would be the restaurant next to the lobby where people in their business suits are munching their lunch.
I would not justify this stupid act … by all means. Most of the victims are innocent people. Yes the guy drives 2 Ferraris and he’s building another hotel in front of the bombed one. For Gods sake, he would care less if they bombed the whole town. But …. think about the taxi drivers, the receptionists, the bell boys, the waitresses …
bad idea.
Thank God everyone is OK.
ellow boy…glad you’re fine. you’re a good story teller though..
Wah.
Dulu pas ngerjain XLnet.net.id sering ke GrahaXL juga, makanya kabayang.
Pas bom BEJ, kantor gue di sebelah, Plaza Bapindo…
Kebayang deh rasanya deket2x ledakan bom lagi.
Boy,…as i read it at cnn.com, thought that was just one of another bads propaganda about Indonesia…there’ve also so many Bombs before . ….can’t ‘catch’ it from here i didn’t know that bad, until i read yours……did it?
This is one of the saddest things to happen in Indonesia this year.
hiksss..untung lo selamet dehhh….sedih jugaa, karena gue biasa hangout di ‘untiltled’ JW marriot..dan itu dulu bekas klien gue jugaaa…..
My co-worker’s sister was a bit injured because the bombing, she worked at the Marriott. The worst is, we’re all now terrorized with any sound of siren or fire alarm. The last terrible moment was on May, 98 and Tragedi Semanggi. We’re living in the crazy world, aren’t we?
thalia @ August 5, 2003 11:58 AM
gawd, sorry to hear that. it must be horrifying :(