Share

Police rule out attack as cause of Bali boat explosion

TWO women are dead after an explosion ripped through an Australian-made ferry shuttling passengers between islands in Bali on Thursday.

Advertisement

Police spokesman Anak Agung Ngurah Sedana said they were trying to determine the cause of the accident and assess whether negligence was to blame.

Two tourists have been killed and 20 others injured in an explosion on a speedboat off the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

The boat was carrying 35 foreign passengers and four crew members when it left eastern Bali for the island of Gili Trawangan, a popular tourist destination.

The Gili Cat 2 boat had just left Padangbai, East Bali, heading to Gili Trawangan, when it exploded.

An Austrian woman was killed along with a second female foreigner, whose nationality was still being verified.

The cause is still under investigation but a leaking fuel tank or a short circuit in the battery is suspected, Sudarso said.

“The explosion came from the fuel tanks in the engine room and was not caused by a bomb”, said said police investigator, Karang Asem.

About 20 people were injured on the speedboat that was ferrying tourists from Bali to neighboring Lombok.

A sustained security crackdown since then has weakened JI but counter-terrorism officials say there is still a threat of attacks from militants inspired by the Islamic State group. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.

Advertisement

Be proactive – Use the “Flag as Inappropriate” link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts.

A Gili Cat fast boat similar to the one on which there was an explosion on Thursday