Indonesia probes student after nearly 100 hurt in school blasts

Members of Indonesian Police bomb squad inspect the mosque where explosions went off at a high school compound in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP)
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Updated 08 November 2025
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Indonesia probes student after nearly 100 hurt in school blasts

  • Explosions that injured dozens of people during Friday prayers could have been an attack, officials said, with a 17-year-old student the suspected perpetrator

JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities said Saturday they were investigating a student over their alleged involvement in explosions that wounded nearly 100 people at a school in the capital Jakarta.

The blasts hit a school mosque in North Jakarta just as people were gathering for Friday prayers, sparking panic among worshippers.

The national police chief said investigators had gathered “several pieces of evidence” as part of their probe.

“There’s writing, and there is also evidence of powder that could potentially have caused an explosion,” Listyo Sigit Prabowo said in comments broadcast by Kompas TV.

Authorities so far have identified one suspect, a student who was wounded in the explosions, but Listyo did not rule out the involvement of others.

Investigators are also examining the suspect’s family and social media, the police chief added.

Ninety-six people were wounded in the incident, Listyo said, revising the police’s earlier casualty figure of 54.

At least 14 victims remain hospitalized, two of whom are in intensive care, he said.

Mayndra Eka Wardhana, spokesman for the counter-terrorism police unit Densus 88, said that investigators had searched the suspect’s home.

He added that they were still probing the motive behind the incident.

A witness told AFP there was confusion over what happened.

“At first we thought it came from some electronic equipment, maybe the sound system... but it turned out the explosion came from under the prayer mat,” Kinza Ghaisan Rayyan, a 17-year-old student, said Friday.


Man charged with threatening to kill US vice president

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Man charged with threatening to kill US vice president

WASHINGTON: A federal grand jury charged a 33-year-old man with threatening to kill US Vice President JD Vance during his visit to Ohio in January, the Justice Department said on Friday.
Shannon Mathre, a resident of Toledo, Ohio, is accused of “making a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” the vice president, the department said in a statement.
Mathre reportedly said he was “going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him,” according to the statement. It did not say where he made the comment.
US Secret Service agents arrested Mathre on Friday.
The threat is the latest reported incident involving Vance.
Vance said in early January “a crazy person” had tried to break into his Ohio home by hammering on the windows. The vice president and his family were not home at the time, and a 26-year-old man was taken into custody, according to US media reports.
The Justice Department said on Friday it found “multiple digital files of child sexual abuse materials” in Mathre’s possession while investigating the alleged threat against Vance.
Mathre made his initial court appearance before a US Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio on Friday.
He is in custody pending a detention hearing on February 11, the Justice Department said.