Foreigner dead, 14 others injured in Bali tourist boat blast

Denpasar (Indonesia), September 15

A foreign woman was killed and 14 other foreigners injured on Thursday when a blast erupted in the engine of a tourist boat that had just departed the Indonesian island of Bali, the police said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion on the speedboat and the police said the bomb squad had been deployed to investigate. However, Indonesia has a poor maritime safety record and there have been similar incidents in the past where no foul play was detected.

Authorities said the woman killed on the boat, which was heading for the nearby holiday island of Gili Trawangan, was a foreigner but that they were verifying her identity before releasing more details.

The 14 injured passengers included nationals from Portugal, Germany, Australia, South Korea and Britain, according to preliminary information from the police.

The boat was carrying 35 passengers, all of whom were foreigners, and four crew, and had just left Padang Bai port in eastern Bali on Thursday morning when the blast occurred.

“The explosion happened five minutes after the boat departed,” local police chief Sugeng Sudarso told AFP, adding the vessel had been about 200 metres (yards) from the port.

“One female passenger died from head injuries.” — AFP