A huge bomb killed more than 150 people as it ripped through two bars packed with foreign tourists on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, in an attack quickly blamed on terrorists. The explosion completely destroyed the bars in the tourist district of Kuta and triggered an intense blaze which burned for hours as rescuers struggled to ferry scores of injured people to hospital.

Traumatized foreign tourists -- many covered in blood or with horrific burn injuries -- stumbled around the scene looking for loved ones or fled hotel rooms for the safety of the beaches.

Many Australians were among the casualties and the country's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said it appeared the blast was a terrorist attack while pointing the finger of suspicion at al-Qaeda.

The blasts come just weeks after the United States reopened its diplomatic missions in Indonesia following a shutdown over the September 11 anniversary caused by fears of new attacks by the al-Qaeda network.

Shortly after the blast at around 11:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) Saturday at the Sari Club a second bomb exploded near the honorary US consulate on the island, without causing casualties. Nobody claimed responsibility.

"There are charred and mangled bodies everywhere, it is unbelievable," said French photographer Cyril Terrien at the scene.

"I have never seen such an appalling thing in my life."

Witnesses said the blast devastated the Padi bar and the Sari Club across the street, which has a garden that is popular with young foreign tourists, and also ripped apart nearby shops and vehicles.

"We have counted 150 bodies but more are yet to be counted," said Putu Prata Wisada, a doctor at Sanglah hospital in Denpasar, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of the site.

Bali Police Chief Brigadier General Budi Setiawan told Metro TV the explosion was caused by a bomb, while a senior military official said he believed TNT was used.

Setiawan said witnesses spoke of two separate explosions, a small one followed by a more powerful one seconds later, but he declined to confirm reports it was a car bomb despite the large hole some 1.5 metres (five feet) deep in the road in front of the Sari Club.

In a second incident, there was an explosion just 250 meters (yards) from the US consulate in the Denpasar suburb of Renon, Bali Police Spokesman Suyatmo told AFP

PHOTO CAPTION

A nightclub on Indonesia's popular resort island of Bali burns after an explosion October 12, 2002. More than 100 people, many of them foreign tourists, have been killed in overnight bomb blasts. (Stringer/Indonesia/Reuters)