Jakarta school blast leaves dozens injured as police arrest teenage suspect
Police in Indonesia say explosions have ripped through a High School, with three victims left in a serious condition in hospital as a teenager is arrested.
Dozens have been left injured after explosions rocked a school during Friday prayers in Indonesia.
The blasts were heard in the Kelapa Gading neighborhood of Jakarta earlier this afternoon. Three people are in a critical condition in hospital and a 17-year-old has been identified as the "suspected perpetrator". Around 17 other students remain in hospital following the blast.
Members of Indonesian Police bomb squad continue to inspect the mosque within the school where explosions went off. Witnesses told a local TV station that they heard two loud explosions moments after midday, just as the sermon started at the religious building.
The Jakarta Metropolitan Police continue to "investigate the suspect’s background and the possible motive behind the incident", which rocked Kelapa Gading, a district in North Jakarta. Other victims have been treated by medics and discharged, local media reports.
"The information I have is that the suspect is undergoing surgery," Deputy House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad told reporters after visiting student victims at a hospital. "The suspect is a 17-year-old male student," he said without giving more details.
National Police Chief Listyo Sigit confirmed in a news conference at the presidential palace in Jakarta that the suspect was one of two students who were undergoing surgery due to suffering serious injuries in the blasts.
"We have identified the suspected perpetrator," Sigit said after attending an event with President Prabowo Subianto at the palace, "Our personnel are currently conducting an in-depth investigation to determine the suspect’s identity and the environment where he lives, including his house and others."
Sigit said police investigators are still collecting all information to determine the motive, including how the suspect was able to assemble a toy submachine gun with words inscribed on it including "14 words. For Agartha," and "Brenton Tarrant: Welcome to hell."
He said: "We discovered the weapon was a toy gun with specific markings, which we are also investigating to understand the motive, including how he assembled it and carried out the attack," Sigit said, adding that the teenage male suspect was a student at the school.
Most of the victims suffered injuries from glass shards and burns. The cause of the explosions was not immediately known but they came from near the mosque’s loudspeaker, according to Jakarta Police Chief Asep Edi Suheri. He said the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals and 20 students remained hospitalized for burns, three of them with serious injuries.
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