Australia indicates up to 80 dead in Bali

4.30pm

CANBERRA - As Australia prepares to offer a A$2 million ($2.31 million) reward for information on the Bali bombers, the number of Australians killed in last weekend's attack could be lower than originally feared.

Over 180 people were killed on Saturday when blasts ripped through nightclubs packed with foreign tourists at Kuta on the Indonesian resort island, with 13 Australians initially confirmed dead, 113 seriously injured and 220 missing.

Five days on, a spokeswoman for Australia's foreign ministry said 30 Australians were confirmed to be among the dead, with another three dying later of serious injuries, while the number still unaccounted for had been scaled back to 140.

"We have serious ground for concerns for about 46 of these," the spokeswoman told Reuters.

That figure indicated the Australian death toll was expected to reach around 80.

With Australian grief turning to anger over what has become the nation's single blackest day since World War 2, Attorney-General Daryl Williams announced the government would offer a reward to help hunt down those responsible.

He said the government was discussing the terms of the payment with the Indonesian authorities, who were interrogating two Indonesians over the bombings.

"The government will offer a reward of up to A$2 million to encourage the provision of information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the terrorist attack in Bali," Williams said in a statement late Wednesday.

No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's blasts but suspicion has fallen on Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and a regional radical Islamic group, Jemaah Islamiah, which some believed are linked.

President George W Bush has said he believed the al Qaeda network was involved in the bombings in Bali.

The United States offered a reward of US$25 million ($52.72 million) for the capture of Osama bin Laden and top al Qaeda lieutenants in the wake of last year's September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington, which killed about 3,000 people.

- REUTERS

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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

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