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Jakarta attacks: Video shows gunfight and explosions at Sarinah shopping centre in Indonesian capital

At least seven people, including four suspected attackers, were killed

Lizzie Dearden
Thursday 14 January 2016 08:52 GMT
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Jakarta bombings - Onlookers film explosions

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Footage has emerged showing two of the explosions that rocked central Jakarta as suspected Islamist militants waged gun battles with police.

At least three victims and four suspected gunmen and suicide bombers died in the attacks on Thursday morning, which left bodies lying in the streets as office workers sheltered in nearby high-rise buildings.

In a video filmed from a building overlooking the Sarinah shopping centre, gunfire could be heard as people were seen running for cover.

(Youtube)

Just seconds into the footage, an explosion rocks the area, shaking the camera and setting off dozens of car alarms.

As the smoke clears, another blast goes off seconds later just metres from the first.

“They are killing themselves,” one person standing behind the camera can be heard saying.

The shopping centre, on Thamrin Street, houses a McDonalds and other multinational brands. A Starbucks, Pizza hut and Burger King lie across the road next to the Djakarta Theater XXI cinema.

Indonesian police take position and aim their weapons as they pursue suspects
Indonesian police take position and aim their weapons as they pursue suspects (Getty)

The five-star Sari Pan Pacific Jakarta hotel is the next building along and United Nations and government offices are also nearby.

A customer in a nearby branch of Starbucks was among those injured in the attacks, the coffee chain said in a statement, adding: “We are deeply saddened by the senseless acts that have taken place in Jakarta today; our hearts are with the people of Indonesia.”

There were unconfirmed media reports of explosions in other parts of Jakarta.

Police said four of the attackers and three others were killed in the attacks, which came after several warnings in recent weeks by the police over suspected plots by Islamist militants.

It was the first major violence in Indonesia's capital since the 2009 blasts targeting two hotels that killed seven people and injured more than 50.

A bombing in a nightclub on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.

As Jakarta went into a security lockdown Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the Indonesian President, said terrorists would not win.

“This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people,” he added,

“The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and lose to, such terror acts.”

Additional reporting by AP

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