Australia mourns blast victims

Wiping tears from their eyes and clutching sprigs of native flowers, Australians today turned out in their thousands for memorial services paying tribute to compatriots killed in last week’s terrorist attack on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Church bells rang across the country as people mourned those who died when a bomb ripped through a nightclub on the popular resort island on October 12, killing at least 180 people and injuring 300 others.

Bali is just a four-hour flight from some Australian cities and was a popular holiday spot. Officials say 103 Australians perished or are still missing since the terrorist attack.

Prime minister John Howard joined about 400 people at a service at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in the capital, Canberra.

Later, Mr Howard addressed thousands of mourners at an open-air service in Sydney via video message.

“Let us resolve to find those who committed this foul deed and bring them to justice,” Mr Howard told the service, which also featured songs from popular Australian musicians.

Some of the survivors of the deadly bombing also spoke at services about the tragedy and their friends who were killed.

“We went (to Bali) expecting a great time and we were having a great time - and then hell happened,” survivor Eric Da Haart told a crowd who gathered near Coogee beach in Sydney to remember six members of the suburb’s rugby league club who died in the blast.

Earlier, Mr Howard vowed that Australia would remain committed to the war on terror following the Bali bombing.

He was responding to an appeal from US Secretary of State Colin Powell for Australia not to abandon the broader fight against terrorism despite the often bloody repercussions.