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| Jimmy Barnes among Australians who narrowly escaped Bangkok bomb blast | Jimmy Barnes among Australians who narrowly escaped Bangkok bomb blast |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| No Australians were known to have been killed or injured in the Bangkok bomb blast, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Tuesday, but the rock star Jimmy Barnes narrowly escaped the blast. | No Australians were known to have been killed or injured in the Bangkok bomb blast, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Tuesday, but the rock star Jimmy Barnes narrowly escaped the blast. |
| Barnes, his wife, Jane, daughter Elly-May, her husband, Liam Conboy and their young son Dylan were heading out for dinner when the bomb went off. | Barnes, his wife, Jane, daughter Elly-May, her husband, Liam Conboy and their young son Dylan were heading out for dinner when the bomb went off. |
| The Cold Chisel frontman and his family were on holiday in the Thai capital and made the decision to bypass the Erawan Shrine and head to the Intercontinental Hotel via an overhead walkway. | The Cold Chisel frontman and his family were on holiday in the Thai capital and made the decision to bypass the Erawan Shrine and head to the Intercontinental Hotel via an overhead walkway. |
| “We were literally walking between two buildings on the walkway when the bomb went off. And it was just frightening. I knew it was a bomb straight away,” Barnes told AAP from his hotel room in Bangkok. | “We were literally walking between two buildings on the walkway when the bomb went off. And it was just frightening. I knew it was a bomb straight away,” Barnes told AAP from his hotel room in Bangkok. |
| Related: Bangkok bomb: Thai capital reeling after deadliest attack in years | |
| “We were going across the road to another hotel for a restaurant. We had two ways of doing it. I had the pram with the grandson with me and walking out the front and turning right and walking past the shrine would have been very difficult because it’s a bumpy road and trying to get across and all that kind of stuff,” he said. | |
| “So I said to the kids, ‘follow me, I’ll take you this other way’, so I took them this quiet roundabout way which ended up going up escalators and down elevators and across a walkway which goes above the road,” Barnes said. | |
| At that point, Barnes said, they almost walked “into the bomb” because they couldn’t find the linking passageway to the Intercontinental Hotel. | |
| “But I said I think it’s the next floor so I took them all in the elevator again to come down. | |
| “And we were literally walking between two buildings on the walkway when the bomb went off. And it was just frightening.” | |
| Some people thought there had been a car crash, but Barnes said, “I knew it was a bomb straight away”. | |
| “All the windows sort of went whoosh and bent from the blast and we quickly got across the walkway and we were inside the other section of this building. | |
| “I could just look back and I could see the other walkways and people running away from where the blast was,” he said. | |
| The family made it to the Intercontinental Hotel where they met friends in the lobby before retreating to a private room at the back of the restaurant. | |
| “I walked up to the front of the hotel and looked down the street and I could see flames everywhere,” Barnes said. | |
| Jane Barnes tweeted in the aftermath of the attack: “We have been able to cross back to our hotel. Bombs diffused. Bodies still covered on road, terrible, so sad.” | Jane Barnes tweeted in the aftermath of the attack: “We have been able to cross back to our hotel. Bombs diffused. Bodies still covered on road, terrible, so sad.” |
| We have been able to cross back to our hotel. Bombs diffused. Bodies still covered on road, terrible, so sad #bangkok pic.twitter.com/TQm3xqq8w2 | We have been able to cross back to our hotel. Bombs diffused. Bodies still covered on road, terrible, so sad #bangkok pic.twitter.com/TQm3xqq8w2 |
| Foreign affairs officials were working with Thai authorities to determine if any Australians had been directly affected. “At this stage we have no information that Australians are among the deceased or seriously injured,” the department said on Tuesday morning. | |
| Australia has condemned the attack, which killed at least 19 people and injured more than 120 others. Some of the dead are foreigners. | Australia has condemned the attack, which killed at least 19 people and injured more than 120 others. Some of the dead are foreigners. |
| “The Australian government deplores the attack in Bangkok. The thoughts of all Australians are with the injured and the families of those who have lost their lives,” the department said. | “The Australian government deplores the attack in Bangkok. The thoughts of all Australians are with the injured and the families of those who have lost their lives,” the department said. |
| Authorities say the bomb was clearly aimed at foreigners and went off outside a popular religious shrine in a district popular with tourists and dotted with high-end hotels. | Authorities say the bomb was clearly aimed at foreigners and went off outside a popular religious shrine in a district popular with tourists and dotted with high-end hotels. |
| Phnom Penh Post’s managing editor, Alan Parkhouse, was with the Barnes family and said they had contemplated walking past the shrine to their dinner venue but instead took an overhead walkway. | Phnom Penh Post’s managing editor, Alan Parkhouse, was with the Barnes family and said they had contemplated walking past the shrine to their dinner venue but instead took an overhead walkway. |
| “We opted for the overhead route – a decision that probably saved our lives,” he told Fairfax Media. | “We opted for the overhead route – a decision that probably saved our lives,” he told Fairfax Media. |
| “As we made our way across the overhead walkway from the shopping centre to the hotel, there was a very loud explosion and the glass lining the closed-in walkway shook and almost buckled from the shockwave of the blast.” | “As we made our way across the overhead walkway from the shopping centre to the hotel, there was a very loud explosion and the glass lining the closed-in walkway shook and almost buckled from the shockwave of the blast.” |
| He said the group had fled to the safety of a hotel. “[We] stood there for a minute, shaken and trying to decide on where was the safest place to be. The foyer of the hotel was chaotic with people running both in and out, but we were safe there.” | He said the group had fled to the safety of a hotel. “[We] stood there for a minute, shaken and trying to decide on where was the safest place to be. The foyer of the hotel was chaotic with people running both in and out, but we were safe there.” |
| Related: Bangkok explosion: witness reports | Related: Bangkok explosion: witness reports |
| He said they had eventually left the hotel, stopping at one stage to talk to a television crew from a Chinese network. | He said they had eventually left the hotel, stopping at one stage to talk to a television crew from a Chinese network. |
| “They said they’d seen a mangled body under a sheet at the blast site and there were reports of another bomb at the intersection that was being defused by a bomb disposal unit.” | “They said they’d seen a mangled body under a sheet at the blast site and there were reports of another bomb at the intersection that was being defused by a bomb disposal unit.” |
| A Melbourne man, Hussain Masri, was on his way to an ATM when the bomb went off. He said he might have been caught up in the blast had he not changed his route to avoid traffic on the road. | A Melbourne man, Hussain Masri, was on his way to an ATM when the bomb went off. He said he might have been caught up in the blast had he not changed his route to avoid traffic on the road. |
| “People were yelling and screaming,” he told the Nine Network. “All you could see was fire burning. People screaming. | “People were yelling and screaming,” he told the Nine Network. “All you could see was fire burning. People screaming. |
| “After the blast it was so scary, especially seeing bodies and limbs and motorbikes on fire and the smell. The smell of burning is … I don’t know.” | “After the blast it was so scary, especially seeing bodies and limbs and motorbikes on fire and the smell. The smell of burning is … I don’t know.” |
| Masri said he and other westerners had run to the site to try to help but the roads had descended into chaos, hampering the arrival of rescue teams. | Masri said he and other westerners had run to the site to try to help but the roads had descended into chaos, hampering the arrival of rescue teams. |
| Australian John Murray and his girlfriend Leify Porter were on a sky bridge above the road where the bomb exploded. | Australian John Murray and his girlfriend Leify Porter were on a sky bridge above the road where the bomb exploded. |
| “We were on the sky bridge looking directly into the shrine. We were just looking at the Thai people praying and then suddenly a massive explosion just detonated and the flames went flying through the sky,” Murray told Sky News. | “We were on the sky bridge looking directly into the shrine. We were just looking at the Thai people praying and then suddenly a massive explosion just detonated and the flames went flying through the sky,” Murray told Sky News. |
| “We literally got blasted back from the impact. We got struck by shrapnel and debris.” | “We literally got blasted back from the impact. We got struck by shrapnel and debris.” |
| Murray said they’d both suffered hearing problems since the blast and had witnessed some distressing scenes. “It was very surreal to go down after and to see the bodies of the people, to see people injured,” he said. | Murray said they’d both suffered hearing problems since the blast and had witnessed some distressing scenes. “It was very surreal to go down after and to see the bodies of the people, to see people injured,” he said. |