Jakarta School Blast Injures 50 During Friday Prayers

More than 50 people were injured in multiple explosions that rocked a mosque inside a school complex in North Jakarta’s Kelapa Gading district during Friday prayers. The blasts occurred around 12:15 p.m. local time, shattering the calm of the afternoon as students gathered for prayer.

According to police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the suspected attacker is a 17-year-old student from the same school, who was also injured in the explosion. Early investigations suggest the teen assembled a homemade bomb that detonated inside the mosque.

Witnesses described scenes of chaos and panic. Many of the victims, mostly students, suffered burns and other blast injuries. “Our hearts were beating fast, we couldn’t breathe,” said a school cook who rushed outside after hearing a massive explosion and seeing thick white smoke pour from the mosque windows.

Emergency teams and a bomb disposal unit quickly arrived to secure the area and search for any additional explosives. Officers later found two gun-like objects at the scene, initially believed to be real weapons. One of the objects appeared to bear disturbing inscriptions, including references to Brenton Tarrant, the gunman behind the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack in New Zealand.

However, government officials later clarified that the weapons turned out to be replicas or toy guns, easing some of the initial fears. Still, the inscriptions have raised serious concerns about the teen’s possible exposure to violent online content.

Students told local media that the suspect was a quiet student who often kept to himself and had been bullied by others. Some classmates recalled seeing him make violent sketches and behaving strangely in recent weeks.

Authorities have cordoned off the area and collected materials for forensic analysis. As the investigation continues, the focus remains on understanding the motive and preventing further incidents that could shake Indonesia’s school communities.