RE: WHAT QANTAS IS DOING TO HELP IN DENPASAR !!!

Also in federal Parliament this week the Govt announced that all remains will be transported by Qantas and a US company who deal in remains recovery.
The Government had contracted international disaster morticians to ready the bodies for return to Australia on Qantas flights.

Qantas Update On Bali – Monday
Sydney, 14 October 2002

In response to media inquiries on the evacuation of Australians from Bali, Qantas said the airline:

* Had carried more than 1,500 people from Bali to Sydney today, with 1,352 people accommodated on four special Qantas flights – two 767s and two 747s – and a further 222 on the airline’s scheduled 767 service;

* Would carry a further 130 passengers on a fifth special flight, from Denpasar to Perth, that will arrive at 0520 tomorrow (Perth time);

* Had scheduled a sixth special flight, QF 8030, departing Denpasar at 1415 tomorrow and arriving in Sydney at 2140;

* Will operate its normal scheduled services on Tuesday, arriving in Darwin at 0430 and Sydney at 0755;

* Sent two of its own doctors and three nurses to Denpasar – where they remain – to provide medical assistance on the ground;

* Carried 16 medical specialists from Emergency Management Australia, who are travelling on Qantas services to Australia to administer medical attention to passengers in need;

* Had waived all conditions on tickets to Australia from Bali;

* Was carrying all airline customers with tickets from Denpasar to Australia at no additional charge;

* Had waived cancellation fees and offered refunds on air fares and Qantas Holidays packages for those yet to travel who wanted to change their Bali holiday plans;

* Introduced a special compassionate return air fare to Bali for family and friends of affected people, priced at $A399 from Perth and Darwin, and $A499 from the east coast; and

* Would add additional services if and when required.

For further information on Australians in Bali and current travel advisories, members of the public are advised to refer to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website at http://www.dfat.gov.au

Issued by Qantas Public Affairs (2803a)
Email: qantasmedia@qantas.com.au

RE: Another sad, sad day

i think it was more an attack on Westerners and not just Australians, You can say that in no uncertain terms we have been warned, we need to tone down our stance and alliance with the USA, And this is one of the results of our stance.
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RE: Another sad, sad day

Well as an Australian i am pretty horrified about this, hundreds of my country men are injured and over 200 missing, A friend of mine in Perth has lost friends in Bali, It has been reported that passengers flown to Darwin have died also.Alot of my fellow West Australians are missing or dead as Bali is only 3 hours from Perth.

The Federal Government says 13 Australians are now confirmed to have died from yesterday’s bomb blast at Bali’s Kuta Beach, with 110 injured and 220 still missing.

Indonesian officials have also updated the overall death toll to 187 people.

Among the other nationalities positively identified are three Singaporeans, two Britons and one each from France, the Netherlands, Germany and Ecuador.

Australian police and agents from ASIO have flown to Bali to join the investigation.

The Australian investigators will join with agents from Indonesia and the United States, who are trying to discover who is behind the attack.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says that a radical Islamic group may be responsible on preliminary investigations.

Mr Downer has previously expressed concerns about an Indonesian group called Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), led by the radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, which has links to Al Qaeda.

Indonesia President Megawati Sukarnoputri has visited the scene of the bombing and promised a full investigation but until now she has refused to act against the group because of a lack of evidence.

‘US to blame’

Mr Bashir has denied responsibility for the blasts.

The Indonesian news agency, Antara, says he has called a news conference on the island of Java.

He not only said he had nothing to do with the blasts but accused the United States of being responsible.

Mr Bashir claims it would be impossible for Indonesians to carry out such a bombing because they could not get such powerful explosives.

He says it must therefore be the work of foreigners, most probably the US.

Mr Bashir lives openly in Indonesia despite intense international pressure for his arrest.

Less than a week ago, Mr Downer said during a regional meeting in Malaysia that Australia was deeply concerned about the activities of Jemaah Islamiah and that Mr Bashir was a significant figure in it.

Some critics say Indonesia is the weakest link in the US-led war on terror in south-east Asia, partly because the government has concerns about cracking down on radical Muslim groups for fear of upsetting the vast moderate mainstream.

Hospitals stretched

In Bali, it is feared of the injured many may die because the hospitals do not have enough supplies to give them proper treatment.

Most of the bodies retrieved from the nightclubs have been taken to the Sanga Hospital, near the Denpasar.

But it is clear the hospital, like others in Bali, is ill equipped to deal with the magnitude of the human disaster.

Bodies are simply piled along the corridors as officials try to start the grim task of identification.

Westerners, who know the health system, fear many who suffered burns in the blasts may die because the hospitals do not have enough pain killers, scalpels, gloves or blood to give them proper treatment.

Maria Jakes, who runs a knitwear company in Bali, has spent the day trying to help provide bandages.

“We’ve got people that have got 90-degree burns all over their body,” she said.

“There’s no Burns Unit in Bali. They’re dying basically because there’s nothing to do.”

Hundreds of people have been rushed to hospital.

Ian White, a volunteer working at Sanga Hospital, is trying to make a list of the missing.

“It’s just pandemonium, out of control here, it’s just bedlam and mayhem,” he said.

“I’ve actually, since early this morning, been putting a database together of the missing persons and well, the injured and where they are and what’s happened and we’re trying to compile it right now and trying to put all the information together.”

Another volunteer, Allison Chester, says she thinks the death toll will rise because medical staff are completely overwhelmed.

“People are very, very badly burned here and we badly need equipment,” she said.

“We need medicine, we need pethadine, we need bandages, we need linens.

“The staff are doing whatever they can here but they don’t have enough help, Australian doctors and doctors from Europe here have been given permission to operate.”

Hotline

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has established a dedicated hotline for families concerned about loved ones in Bali.

Consular staff in Bali are searching hospitals to try and determine the number of Australians injured but say there is very little known at this stage.

The dedicated hotline number is 1 800 00 22 14.

A spokeswoman for the department, Nicole Guihot, is asking families to coordinate their inquiries.

“We’d also please ask that they nominate just one family member, if possible, to call us to try and avoid congestion on the phone lines,” she said.

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