Bombers hit Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta on Friday, leaving as many as 12 dead and at least 50 others injured. The hotels were badly damaged.

Police have confirmed six dead at The Ritz-Carlton and two dead at the JW Marriott, including one suicide bomber at each property.

The first bomb went off at the JW Marriott at 7:41 a.m. local time, followed approximately five to 10 minutes later by an explosion at The Ritz-Carlton.

Immediately following the incident, police and hotel security responded and sealed off the area, according to a statement from Marriott International. Uninjured guests at both properties were evacuated and moved to other hotels.

Both hotels sustained damage, but it does not appear to be structural, according to Marriott. The company hopes to reopen both hotels "soon."

Alan Orlob, head of security at the Jakarta Marriott, tells CNN that "robust" security had been in place at both hotels ahead of Friday's attack, with all guests and staff passing though a series of intense checks before gaining access to the building. "When you drive up to one of these hotels, your car is stopped, it is completely inspected. Your luggage is taken out, it is inspected with what we call explosive vapor detectors," he says. "We have sniffer dogs at the hotel and when people enter the hotel itself, they walk through a metal detector."

A third bomb went off about three hours after the first two, near a highway tollbooth leading out of Jakarta. Two more people are believed to have died in that blast.




Several suspects in the JW Marriott attack stayed on the 18th floor of the hotel, Jakarta's police chief says. Undetonated explosives were reportedly found on that floor after the twin explosions.

"There were several perpetrators," says Maj. Gen. Wahyono. "They were disguised as guests and stayed in room 1808."
Andre Siregar, who was staying at The Ritz-Carlton in Jakarta, posted this image of the bombed hotel to Twitter, along with a series of firsthand tweets.

The two hotels are connected by an underground tunnel.

Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemns the attacks and vows justice. "Those who carried out this attack and those who planned it will be arrested and tried according to the law," he says.

Peter Tuomey, an Irish citizen, was staying at the JW Marriott. He described to CBC News a scene of mass confusion as he evacuated the hotel.

"Even from the 17th floor I could feel the shake. I came down the fire escape and out onto the street, and there was general chaos there, none of staff, no guests really knew what was going on, but it was pretty evident what was going on," Tuomey says.





"There were people walking out, blood-spattered and cut, so it was pretty clear that there were people injured at that stage."

From: www.hotelsmag.com