'I'll go back for sure'

2005-10-03 10:46

Sydney - Amid tears and hugs, many Australians who returned home on Monday from Indonesia's Bali island after its latest bombings said they had weighed the risks before taking their vacations and would not hesitate to go back.

Despite a government travel warning in place since the October 12, 2002, Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, tourists have been returning to the island, drawn by its renowned surf and white sand beaches.

Bali was attacked again on Saturday night, when suicide bombers detonated three near-simultaneous blasts that killed 26 people and injured more than 100.

Australian officials said at least two of its citizens died - a 16-year-old boy and a 48-year-old woman. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said about 17 Australians had been injured.

Five of the injured, including the sister and father of the dead 16-year-old, have been flown to Singapore for treatment. A dozen or so have been evacuated to the northern Australian city of Darwin, where doctors say they are being treated for shrapnel wounds, eye injuries and ruptured eardrums.

'It was bound to happen'

Despite the devastation, many Australians returning to Sydney's international airport from Bali early on Monday said they would not hesitate to return.

Tynan Curry, 21, said he was sitting in his hotel near Kuta Square when he heard two blasts. The experience was frightening, he said but not enough to keep him away.

"There's good waves there," said Curry, an avid surfer. "I'll go back for sure."

Another tourist, 46-year-old Marcus Peier, said he was sitting in a restaurant in downtown Kuta when the blasts occurred. He said he saw smoke and people running down the street but was not surprised.

"It was bound to happen," he said. "That's what was in my head all the way, that it (a terrorist attack) could happen again while I was there."

Sydney resident Diana Sutherland - her eyes welling with tears - said she was worried mostly about the effect of the bombings on the Balinese people, many of whom depend on tourism for their livelihoods.

Citizens urged to avoid nonessential travel to Indonesia

"They are kind and gentle and they don't deserve to have this all over again," said Sutherland, who did not cut short her holiday but returned on her originally scheduled flight.

"It has a major, major impact on their economy and we're just going to go back as soon as we can," she added.

Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday advised Australians to "think very hard about going to Bali" and the foreign ministry has advised citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Indonesia.

But Downer on Monday stopped short of urging citizens not to visit Bali.

"In the end, it's a free world, they've got to make up their own mind whether they want to make the trip," said Downer.

- AP