Jakarta: Several students injured in explosion at school mosque

An explosion at a school mosque in North Jakarta injured several students during Friday prayers. A police bomb disposal unit has been deployed to investigate the blast, with conflicting reports on the number of casualties. The cause is still unknown.

Several students were injured in an explosion during Friday prayers at a mosque inside a school complex in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, local media reported.

Police Investigation Underway

The Jakarta Police deployed a bomb disposal unit to investigate the blast at the school mosque situated in Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta, Antara News reported.

A Reuters report put the number of people hospitalised at 54. Some students remained inside the school compound after the blast.

Jakarta Police spokesperson Senior Commissioner Budi Hermanto confirmed that investigators were still determining the cause of the explosion, the news outlet said.

A bomb disposal team from the Mobile Brigade Corps has been deployed to search the area.

Two students were injured and taken to a hospital for treatment, the Police spokesperson was cited as saying by Antara news agency.

Witness Account and Aftermath

The Jakarta Fire and Rescue Office said that they received a report from a witness at 12:09 pm (local time) that the explosion came from a loudspeaker inside the school mosque.

It reported that news channels KompasTV and MetroTV showed footage of a police line around the school with ambulances standing by. Images of the mosque showed no extensive damage, as per the Reuters report.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)