Grief still fresh at site of Bali terror blast

BALI, Indonesia — Some came for a sense of peace and some came to say final goodbyes. Others returned to the tranquil island of Bali on Saturday to vent their anger at those who killed 202 people a year ago in the deadliest terrorist strike since the Sept. 11 attacks.

A day before Indonesia marks the first anniversary of the twin nightclub attacks, the bomb site became a refuge for families and friends still trying to piece together their shattered lives.

"It's been a difficult year," said Angela Dark of Melbourne, Australia placed flowers and a photo of her 32-year-old brother, Anthony Cachia, at the memorial.

"My brother was the one person in this life who understood me," she said. "I miss him so much. . . . The pain never goes away. I'm so angry, angry at the world."

Since the Oct. 12, 2002, attack, Bali's economy has rebounded and Indonesian authorities have caught most of the Muslim militants responsible for the bombings.

For relatives of the dead, its been a year filled with sadness.

Their trauma was compounded, many said, by the fact that it took authorities weeks to identify many of the badly burned victims through DNA testing. In the end, all but four people who died in the blasts were identified.

"We've been caught in a time warp. It's like it happened yesterday," said David Marshall of Australia, whose 68-year-old father, Bob, died in the attack. "I just haven't been able to move on."

Just before 11 p.m. on Oct. 12, a dark Mitsubishi minivan packed with 110 pounds of explosives pulled in front of the Sari Club. An Indonesian later identified as Iqbal walked into Paddy's wearing a bomb concealed in a vest — in what would be the first known suicide bombing in Indonesia's history.

The initial bomb at Paddy's sent the crowd scrambling into the street and toward the Sari Club. Many who died in the second, much larger explosion were fleeing the first one.

Bodies littered the street, buildings were in flames and hospitals quickly filled with the dead and living. By daybreak, a crater was all that remained of the Sari Club.

The attack killed 202 people, including 88 Australians and seven Americans.

Less than a month after the attack, Indonesia — working with the Australian Federal Police — made the first of 35 arrests, aided by the recovery of the minivan's serial number.