(Recasts to update death toll; Edits to conform with new
details.)
At least two explosions rocked the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott
hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, killing at least six
people including several foreigners, police and media reports
said.
The Associated Press and local Metro TV said at least four
people were dead, and the facade of the Ritz-Carlton was blown out.
The blasts may have come from the front and the basement of the
hotels, the Antara news agency said.
One report placed the death toll at eight currently.
Four of the dead were foreigners, The AP said. As many as 15 are
being treated at one hospital alone, the news agency said.
One New Zealander was in critical condition, Agence
France-Presse reported.
The first explosion took place around 7:40 a.m. local time (0045
GMT) with the second taking place minutes later.
"I heard two sounds like 'boom, boom' coming from the Marriott
and the Ritz-Carlton. Then I saw people running out," security
guard Eko Susanto told AFP.
Police had sealed off the area near the Ritz-Carlton and the JW
Marriott in the Mega Kuningan district.
Witness Intan told TV One one of the explosions wrecked the
lobby of the Plaza Mutiara building.
"I was having breakfast on level 16, I heard an explosion and
went down to the first floor and it was a mess. I saw foreigners
all bloody, about three to five of them, badly wounded," she
said.
In 2003, a bombing at the Marriott killed 12 people. That blast
was blamed on regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, also blamed
for the 2002 Bali bombings.
"I saw some people being carried into a Mercedes. There was a
lot of them in there, they were having trouble closing the doors,"
a witness, who gave her name as Mery, told ElShinta radio.
Several embassies and a number of leading financial institutions
have offices in the area.