Grave fears for at least three New Zealanders in Bali blast

12.30pm - By FRANCESCA MOLD

A New Zealand man has been informally identified by a friend as among those killed in the Bali bombing.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed that another two New Zealand men are unaccounted for and were known to be in the vicinity of the Sari nightclub when the bomb went off about 4am on Sunday.

The name of one of the men has appeared on a hospital white-board list of the dead.

MFAT said family members of the man whose body had been identified by friends were travelling to Bali today.

Foreign Affairs minister Phil Goff said 12 New Zealanders had been confirmed as having been wounded in the attack on the nightclub in the Kuta district of Bali.

Six had been evacuated to hospitals in Darwin. Two had been flown to hospitals in Singapore and the same number to hospitals in Taipei.

The remainder had been treated and discharged at the hospital in Bali.

"We are now confident there are no New Zealanders left in Bali who are injured. There are certainly none we are aware of," Mr Goff told reporters today.

Mr Goff said the focus for the four New Zealand officials in Bali was to work on identifying missing holidaymakers who are presumed dead. They would be using passport photographs and other identifying information to help identify the bodies.

"The task today for our people is the very difficult task of going through the various morgues trying to identify some of the missing New Zealanders."

MFAT said 753 New Zealanders in Bali had been confirmed alive and well since the explosion. There were still about 389 whose whereabouts were not known, according to Mr Goff.

He said the Government was leaving the option of sending a minister to Bali open but it was not seen as an immediate imperative. He said the Government was liaising with the Australians on a regular basis.

There had been reports that two United Nations peacekeepers killed in the attack may have been New Zealanders. But Mr Goff said while he was not at liberty to reveal what country the peacekeepers came from, he could confirm they were not New Zealanders.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said there was particular concern about three New Zealanders who had failed to contact home and were known to be in the area at the time of the bomb blast.

She was asked whether the Bali bombing had prompted any review of security here, particularly the America's Cup.

"We took a lot of new anti-terrorism measures back in January. They were clearly very appropriate in the light of September 11 and what has happened in Bali," she said.

"Obviously there is nothing more important than the safety of your citizens so we keep it under constant review."

She said the Government was very mindful of security needs surrounding an international event like the Americas Cup.

The Prime Minister said the New Zealand Government had made it clear to Australia that it would help in any way it could.

An Airforce Hercules and a medical team was sent to help transport those injured in the blast last night after the Government received a request for help from the Australians.

Bali messages

New Zealand travellers in Bali, and their families in New Zealand, can post messages on our Bali Messages page.

Foreign Affairs advice to New Zealanders

* Travellers should defer travel to Bali

* NZers in Bali should keep a low profile and remain calm

* Foreign Affairs Hotline: 0800 432 111

Feature: Bali bomb blast

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