Whereabouts of 491 Kiwis on Bali still unknown

Nearly 500 New Zealanders holidaying in Bali remain unaccounted for today, and fears that some may have been killed in the weekend terrorist attack are rising.

The official death toll is not known - reports yesterday swung between 181 and 216 - but only a few of the dead had been identified last night.

They included 14 Australians, and Swedes, Britons, Germans and Indonesians.

At least one New Zealander is also thought to have died in the explosion, but this has not been confirmed.

Most victims had not been identified because some were dismembered or because medical workers found only parts of bodies. The grisly task of putting names to the bodies could take weeks.

Bodies are virtually stacked in a corridor in the main hospital in Denpasar, separated from the public by only a cloth barrier.

Most of the injured have been airlifted from Bali by the Australian Defence Force.

Last night, a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules left Whenuapai taking medical staff and supplies to Darwin.

About 1150 New Zealanders are known to have been in Bali at the weekend.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could account for 658, including 12 who were injured.

But there has been no word and no sign of another 491 holidaymakers.

Relief for one New Zealand family came last night with the discovery that Wellington tax accountant Dean McDougall was alive and had been airlifted to Darwin.

Mr McDougall, 25, was the only one of a group of five friends to be missing after the explosion.

Denouncing the bombings, Prime Minister Helen Clark said: "There can be no tolerance of such deliberate and cowardly acts of terrorism."

US President George W. Bush said: "We must call this despicable act by its rightful name, murder."

And Australian Prime Minister John Howard warned his nation that "people should get out of their minds that it can't happen here".

An FBI team was on its way to Bali last night to help the investigation, and Australian Federal Police began collecting holiday snaps and videos taken by Australian tourists as they returned home.

Australia is facing the highest number of casualties. More than 20,000 Australians were known to be in Bali, and hundreds have not been accounted for.

Over the past two days, New Zealand's Foreign Ministry has received more than a thousand calls from worried relatives.

Two ministry officials who flew to Bali from Jakarta have worked around the clock visiting hospitals to find New Zealand victims.

Military and commercial aircraft have begun a mass evacuation of foreign travellers - those injured in the explosion and those cutting short their holidays - ferrying most of them to Australia.

By tonight it is expected that almost 2000 people will have been flown out of Denpasar, Bali's capital, including seven New Zealanders sent to Singapore and Darwin for hospital attention.

One of the New Zealanders taken to Singapore reportedly had burns to more than 30 per cent of his body but was in a stable condition.

The other was Squadron Leader Mike Going, a member of the New Zealand peacekeeping force in East Timor, who was on holiday in Bali. He also has burns, and was in a stable condition last night.

Hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne were treating "a steady trickle of travellers" yesterday.

The burns service at Middlemore Hospital is readying itself to take New Zealanders injured in the attack.

Many of the 2000 New Zealanders booked to go to Bali in the next four months have cancelled their tickets or changed their destination since the blasts.

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

Related links