Jakarta: Multiple explosions inside school mosque during Friday prayers injures 55; 17-year-old suspect identified

At least 55 people, mostly students, were injured after multiple explosions shook a mosque inside a high school complex during Friday prayers in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, police said.

Authorities said a 17-year-old had been identified as the suspected perpetrator and was undergoing surgery after the blast, news agency Reuters reported.

Witnesses told local television stations that they heard at least two loud blasts around midday, just as the sermon had begun at the mosque of SMA 27, a state high school located within a navy compound in North Jakarta’s Kelapa Gading area. Students and others ran out in panic as gray smoke filled the mosque.


City police chief Asep Edi Suheri said most of the victims suffered injuries from glass shards, ranging from minor to serious including several burn injuries. He said 55 people had been admitted to hospitals for treatment.

Twenty students remain in hospital care, including three with severe injuries, while others have been discharged after treatment, news agency AP reported.



Authorities have cordoned off the area and are processing the crime scene, Asep said, adding that a bomb squad from Jakarta police had been deployed to determine the cause of the blast.

Officials have indicated that the explosion could have been an attack. Indonesia’s deputy house speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, who visited one of the hospitals, said the suspect was currently undergoing surgery.

Police have also set up help desks in two hospitals to assist relatives in locating injured victims. “We are still investigating, as this incident just occurred,” Asep told reporters.

Local news channels KompasTV and MetroTV showed footage of police lines around the school complex, with ambulances standing by. Images circulating on social media showed that the mosque did not suffer significant structural damage.


“The initial data we have received indicates that about 54 people were affected. Some sustained minor injuries, some moderate, and some have already been discharged,” Asep said.

“Let the authorities work first,” Suheri said. “We will convey whatever the results are to the public once the investigation is completed.”