Australian PM commemorates victims on 22nd anniversary of Bali bombings

CANBERRA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) — Australia’s prime minister has paid tribute to those who were killed and injured in the Bali bombings on the 22nd anniversary of the attack.
Anthony Albanese on Saturday said the terror attack on the Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 people, including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians, were killed struck at joy and friendship without mercy or pity.
“We think of everyone – Australian, Indonesian and others from across the world – who never saw home again. We think of everyone who still carries the loss, emotional and physical,” he said in a statement posted on social media.
“Over the years grief does not fade. So many hearts are still tethered to that cruel night, every beat tempered by an abiding sorrow.”
Two bombs were detonated in the popular tourist center of Kuta Beach at approximately 11 p.m. local time on Oct. 12, 2002, with a third detonated near the U.S. consulate in Denpasar.
In addition to the 202 dead, over 200 were injured. It remains the single largest loss of Australian life in a terror attack and the largest loss of Australian life since World War II.
Several victims of the bombings were flown to the Australian cities of Perth and Darwin for treatment, and in 2003 almost 200 Australians received special honors for their actions following the attack. ■