Blast at North Jakarta school mosque injures 54 people

A blast during Friday prayers at a mosque inside a school complex in North Jakarta injured at least 54 people, mostly students, city police said on Friday. The incident occurred around midday in the Kelapa Gading neighborhood as the sermon was beginning, sending worshippers running from the mosque and prompting an immediate emergency response.

Jakarta Police Chief Asep Edi Suheri said the injured were taken to nearby hospitals, with the total number affected at about 54. He said the injuries ranged from minor to serious, including burns and wounds from glass shards. Twenty people remained hospitalized, and three were in serious condition, he said. "The initial data we have received indicates that there are approximately 54 individuals affected," Asep told reporters.

Witnesses described hearing two loud explosions and seeing gray smoke fill the mosque as people fled. Local footage showed ambulances and a police cordon around the school; images of the mosque indicated limited visible structural damage. Authorities deployed a bomb squad to process the scene and set up posts at two hospitals to assist relatives locating the injured, the police chief said.