Twenty-two Australians dead, 160 still missing after Bali bombing

8.15pm

CANBERRA - Australian authorities say 22 Australians are now on the list of confirmed or likely dead following the weekend bombings in Bali but the final toll is expected to be much higher with 160 still missing.

An estimated 181 people were killed and more than 300 injured on Saturday when explosions ripped through nightclubs packed with young Westerners in Kuta Beach on the Indonesia resort island. In addition, two Australians badly injured in Saturday night's bombings died later -- one on an evacuation flight back to Australia and another in the intensive care unit of the Royal Darwin Hospital in far north Australia.

Many of the badly burned and dismembered bodies have been hard to identify with officials tentatively naming the deceased from credit cards or documents found on bodies and some relatives recognising their loved ones by jewellery.

A spokeswoman from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Indonesian authorities had confirmed 13 Australians to be among the dead.

"But there is strong evidence to suggest there is a further seven but we have yet to confirm these," the spokeswoman told Reuters.

The Australian Defence Force has sent military aircraft to Bali with medical teams to transport patients back to Australia.

Australian Embassy official Kirk Coningham told Australian radio from Bali that 196 injured Australians had been transported from Bali, 16 of them in critical condition, and there were no more Australians remaining in hospitals in Bali.

Australia's deputy ambassador to Indonesia, Neil Mules, told Australian television that 160 Australians believed to have been in the area at the time of the bombings were still missing.

"We're now working on a list... of around 160 Australians who we have reason to believe may have been in the area," he said.

- REUTERS

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Feature: Bali bomb blast

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