17 years of tears & grief - bali bombing

October 12th is one of the worst day in the history of not just Bali but Indonesia. On this day in 2002, a militant attack in Bali with bombs killed over 200 people and injured more than 200 people as well. This year marks the 17th anniversary of that event which has nothing but horrors of tears and grief associated to it.

Hundreds of mourners and survivors got together yesterday to commemorate the 17th anniversary of Bali bombings. Members of grieving families, survivors and different embassy representative lit incenses, brought flowers to the memorial of Bali survivors in a popular tourist point of Kuta. The same spot where the militants exploded the bombs.

It was not an easy sight, grieving family members of the victims broke down in to tears in the candle light vigil. That deadliest attack of the country affected people from all around the world. A large majority of the victims were the holiday makers and vacationers from over 20 countries. Australia is the country that suffered the most loss as 88 Australian nationals died that day.

“It has been 17 years but the wound is still fresh for me. It is difficult to fully heal but I am trying to let go of the past,” Endang Isnaini, 48, who lost her husband in the attack, told AFP while unable to control her emotions.

Takako Suzuki was one of the attendees, she comes annually to Bali from Japan on this day full of grief to remember her son, Kosuke Suzuki. He died in the explosion which led to open a front in Asia on the war on terror. I come here every year to give strength to myself and my other children. This is incredibly sad but we can move on from this,” Suzuki said.

A local militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was blamed for these bombing who have been linked with Al-Qaeda. The bombings took place at two popular spots for the night for tourists and were accounted for all of the victims. There was another device that exploded outside US consulate but no harm was caused.

All the leading responsible people for the bombings were executed or killed.