Survivors of a night in hell

By CATHY ARONSON

Lee Panther came home from Bali in a wheelchair last night, her knees too swollen for her to walk.

When the bomb exploded in Bali, ripping through the Sari nightclub, she was caught in the blast and falling debris as the club disintegrated.

She remembers jumping off rooftops to escape the inferno. Her swollen knees are proof of the desperate rush to escape.

She arrived at Auckland Airport with bandages covering the severe burns on her back and arms, received when she hesitated before jumping out of the way.

More survivors of the weekend bomb blast arrived home to their families yesterday.

Each told tales of the night the party stopped at Bali and the inferno began.

Ms Panther was among a group of lifelong friends from Kaitaia who left last Thursday to go to Bali for what was meant to be the party of their lives.

Eight came home. Two others, newly married Andrew and Amanda Stanaway, are in Australia, where Andrew is in Royal Perth Hospital recovering from severe burns.

His wife is by his side.

The eight friends who have come home find it hard to believe they are alive and largely unscathed.

Rachel Stewart, like her friend Lee Panther, received burns to her back when she was caught in the flames after being separated from the group.

On Saturday the women all had their hair braided before the group went to the Sari club about 10pm.

The day before they had been given a flyer with a picture of fireworks on it saying "explosive party at the Sari club".

They had just moved from the front of the club and were dancing together as a group by the bar when they heard a crackle followed by a boom. They then found themselves knocked to the ground.

One of the women, Michelle Beard, said she was amazed that the friends all landed next to one another and were able to escape.

George Stevenson grabbed his wife, Sue, and escaped through a hole in the wall. When he turned around the flames had engulfed the club.

"We only just escaped with our lives. People were burning around us. It was awful."

Sue Stevenson said the thought of her 3-year-old son, Arlee, and 10- month-old daughter, Indi, kept her going as she jumped over rooftops and scrambled across rubble to escape.

When she saw her children at the airport yesterday she hugged them tightly and cried.

"I just wanted to get home to my babies. They were the first thing I thought of while I was escaping. I just wanted to see my babies again."

For a while Rachel Stewart thought she would never see any of her friends again.

Her husband, John, had pushed her up a fire escape and she became separated from the group.

"I was standing out on the street and people were yelling at me to move, but I couldn't move, I couldn't talk, I just thought they were all dead."

It was two long hours before John Stewart saw his wife again when she managed to find her way back to the hotel.

His watch had stopped at 11.10pm when the bomb blast hit and he thought his life was about to stop as well.

The two 30-year-olds have been together since they were 15.

"I didn't know what I thought. I didn't want to lose her."

Once reunited, the couple wanted to get home to see their girls, aged 3 and 1. But first they had to make the five-hour journey home to Kaitaia.

Sue Stevenson's mother, Yvonne Simeon, was also at the airport yesterday. She said she had been called just hours after the attack and knew that her daughter and son-in-law were alive, but the wait to see them had been hard.

"They went over there to the party of their lives but they had a party from hell."

Last night the friends made their way back to Kaitaia to recover and await news of their friends in Perth.


Bali messages and latest information on New Zealanders
New Zealand travellers in Bali, and their families around the world, can exchange news via our Bali Messages page. The page also contains lists of New Zealanders in Bali and their condition.

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

Related links