Families reflect on Bali bombing anniversary
Relatives of the 28 British victims of the Bali nightclub outrage last night attended a church service in London to mark the first anniversary.
On the same day, commemorations were held on the Indonesian island to remember the 202 people from 22 countries who were killed one year ago.
About 800 people paid their respects at the St Martin-in-the-Fields church. Dignitaries attending included including Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and the Duke of Kent.
The Right Reverend Timothy Wright said: “Out of shared grief has come comfort and this service shows that so clearly.
“The care you have brought to it, the balance within it and most importantly of all, your shared faith is now revealed to us as so much stronger than the destructive force of that bomb.”
The service began at 1830 BST.
Prior to the service 202 balloons were released in Trafalgar Square.
The service, organised by the Bali Bombings Victims Group, featured prayers and readings by the British relatives and hymns, including Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
The major religious faiths were represented at the gathering. Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Christian faith leaders said prayers for peace and read from the scriptures.
Then the Duke of Kent, representing the Queen, read the Wisdom Of Solomon.
The names of British victims were read aloud and a candle was lit for each of them.
In Bali, more than 2,000 people including Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Indonesian security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attended the multi-faith prayer gathering.
Mr Howard told the crowd: “Yours is a loss that can never be recovered,” he said, “but it is a loss that, with the passage of time and the support and the love of your fellow countrymen and women, can be made perhaps a little easier to bear.”
At 2308 local time there was absolute silence at Bali’s ground zero where the Sari Club once stood.
Survivors, friends and relatives of the victims lit candles along Kuta beach after the memorial service.
