There are moments that change the course of people’s lives forever.
For some of us, even small moments can contribute to these changes. For others, these moments can be so drastic and dark.
Oct. 12, 2002, was definitely one moment that broke people. Some have not been able to mend.
Around an hour before midnight that Saturday, a series of attacks were launched at two of Kuta’s most well-frequented nightspots, which were popular among foreign tourists.
Two bombs went off in Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar, while another exploded in front of the American consulate in Denpasar around the same time.
In total, the explosions killed 202 people and wounded hundreds more, and have since been known as the deadliest terror attack that happened on Indonesian soil.
For some, the date changed Bali’s image forever.
Read also: Loss and Forgiveness: Bali bombing victim remembered
Today, mourners and survivors of the horrendous attacks came to Ground Zero, Kuta, to pay their respects to those who lost their lives and those who suffered in the aftermath. They came with flowers and pictures of victims – practically a reminder that those who perished in the events represent more than just statistics.
One of the survivors, Ngesti Puji Rahayu, or Yayuk, said that she will never forget the attack, having suffered burn scars on her body ever since.
“Before the attack at around 9pm, I was working at a warung (local eatery). At 10pm, I rode a bike [with a friend] to Paddy’s. It took [us] an hour to arrive,” Yayuk recalled, adding that Paddy’s was her favorite back then.
In the midst of flashing lights from the disco balls, Yayuk said she suddenly “saw fire balls jumping around here and there like ping-pong,” which hit her right in the face.
“I fell backwards,” she added.
Somehow, Yayuk managed to gather some strength to lift herself up and get out of the inferno in the club. She saw dead bodies scattered throughout. Yayuk was later rescued and brought to the Sanglah General Hospital (now Ngoerah Hospital) in Denpasar and suffered burn wounds covering 30 percent of her body.
A week later, she and several other victims were flown to Perth to undergo surgery to fix her wounds, a procedure that was repeated a couple of times until 2009.
Never forget
Locals and foreigners lost their lives that night. Australians marked the highest casualties with a total of 88 people drawing their last breaths because of the attacks.
Local militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was blamed for the bombings. Several of their members were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three who were sentenced to death in 2008. Two years later, another terrorist who was reportedly involved in the attacks was killed in a shoot-out with the police in Tangerang.
This year, the 2002 Bali bombings once again made headlines after one of the key actors in the attacks, Umar Patek, is set to walk free after his sentence was reduced on account of several remissions granted throughout the years.
Neighboring Australia, which still supplies a huge chunk of international tourists to Bali, has expressed their shock at Umar’s parole eligibility.
Calls for President Joko Widodo to review Umar’s parole have also been voiced by Indonesians who were directly affected by the attacks.
Twenty years have passed since the attacks. While other tribulations have come to people in the island, particularly the pandemic, Oct. 12 will always be remembered as the day that changed the course of our lives forever.
