Dozens of people have been injured in an explosion during Friday prayers at a mosque inside a high school complex in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta
Fifty-four people were admitted to hospital, the city’s police chief Asep Edi Suheri told a news conference.
The suspect is a 17-year-old student who is currently in surgery, officials told reporters.
The Jakarta Metropolitan Police continues to investigate the suspect’s background and the possible motive behind the incident, which occurred at around 12:15 local time (05:15 GMT) in Kelapa Gading, a district in North Jakarta.
A bomb disposal team has been deployed to the state-run high school complex to collect evidence and ensure there are no other explosive devices.
Authorities said three people had suffered serious injuries and 17 others came away with minor injuries.
A pupil at the school alleged to Indonesia’s government-owned news agency Antara that a homemade bomb had been brought in by a student who had often been bullied by other students.
Other pupils told Indonesian news outlets that the suspect was a “loner” who often made drawings depicting violence, and who had been found lying on the ground following the explosion.
A cook at the school described seeing white smoke coming from the mosque and broken windows after the “massive” blast.
“Our hearts were beating fast, we couldn’t breathe,” she told the Reuters news agency.
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Senseless bombings