A former Ottawa resident is one of two Canadian businessmen injured in a suicide bombing at a pair of high-end hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia Friday morning.
The bombings killed eight people and injured 50 others, including Andrew Stewart Cobham, who once lived in Ottawa and is currently working as country manager of PT Hill Konsultan Indonesia. According to reports, Cobham was severely injured in the attack and is currently in hospital in Jakarta.
Cobham has held several Canadian government positions and previously served in the Canadian Armed Forces from 1963-1974.
Cobham left Canada to work in Indonesia in May 1990. He has recently worked as an advisor to the Indonesian government on infrastructure and development issues.
Police said the bombing suspects had stayed at the J.W. Marriott in the Indonesian capital, which sits next door to the Ritz-Carlton, the second luxury hotel that was attacked on Friday morning.
Officials said the Marriott was hit at 7:45 a.m., local time, and the second blast hit the Ritz-Carlton two minutes later.
A second Canadian injured in the attack has been identified as Edward Thiessen, a 51-year-old businessman who works for the French power generation and rail transportation company Alstom.
Alstom spokesperson Patrick Bessy confirmed to CTV.ca that Thiessen had been hurt, but said his injuries were not life-threatening.
"His life is not at stake," Bessy said in a telephone interview from Levallois-Perret, France.
Another spokesperson, Mary Varkados, told CTV.ca that Thiessen has been working for Alstom for 14 years.
Thiessen's wife, Deni, told CTV News via Facebook message that her husband was having a breakfast meeting at the Marriott when the blast happened.
She said Thiessen had been burned on his forehead and shoulder, as well as on his hands and legs.
Jakarta police Chief Maj.-Gen. Wahyono said the two suspects had smuggled their explosives into the Marriott, where additional bombing materials were found after the pair of blasts.
"There were several perpetrators," Wahyono told reporters Friday. "They were disguised as guests and stayed in room 1808."
Another police official said the suspects had used the 18th-floor hotel room as their "command post," where they built their bombs since checking into the hotel on July 15.
A meeting of a number of top foreign business executives was underway at the Marriott at the time of the attacks.
Alex Asmasubrata was jogging nearby when the blasts went off. He walked into the Marriott before emergency services arrived.
"There were bodies on the ground, one of them had no stomach," he said. "It was terrible."
The explosions sent showers of glass and assorted debris into the street. Authorities later used police trucks to carry bodies away from the scene.
With files from CTV.ca, The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
