This is the end of Bali for Australia, says embassy official

A New Zealand embassy official holidaying in Bali said the latest blasts had left locals devastated.

Rebecca Jonassen said Bali had only just recovered after the 2002 bombings which killed 202 people and wrecked the tourism industry and the island's economy.

"The Balinese I've spoken to are heartbroken," she told the Herald from Bali last night.

"I've heard that Australian media are saying this is the end of Bali for Australia, and I suppose it will be."

Ms Jonassen, who is the second secretary at New Zealand's Embassy in Jakarta, said Bali was a magical place and would retain a special place in her heart.

She was dining with other foreign embassy friends from Jakarta at a beachside restaurant when they heard one of the bombs go off. She and one friend went to the main hospital to try to identify Western casualties.

"The people were being separated over a number of hospitals. It was reasonably easy to identify the foreigners. As soon as a white face came in, we went and got the details."

She said volunteers, including a New Zealander who lived there, had quickly arrived at the hospital to help.

"A lot came in and just got stuck in. Some who had helped last time, they just came in."

She said there had been some "nasty" shocks at the hospital, with the dying and injured. New Zealand's Consul in Jakarta, Heather Garvan, said she, Ms Jonassen and a New Zealand policeman based in Jakarta, Superintendent Athol Soper, were in Bali continuing to check all arrivals at hospitals for New Zealand casualties.

They were also trying to find New Zealanders whose friends and families had been unable to contact them.