MFA:No Thais are among casualties in Jakarta's blasts

BANGKOK, January 14 (TNA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that no Thai nationals have been killed or injured in a series of bomb blasts and gunfights in central Jakarta on Thursday morning. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sek Wannamethee told journalists that the Thai Embassy in Jakarta has initially confirmed there have been no Thai people among causualties from the bomb attacks and gunfights between local police officers and suspected members of a militant group in the heart of the Indonesian capital. The spokesman said the Thai Embassy has, however, issued a statement to the Thai community in Indonesia, advising Thai nationals to keep away from the scene of the violence and its vicinity. There are about 4,000 Thai nationals in Indonesia, about 300 of them live in Jakarta currently. According to international media reports, a series of bomb blasts and gunfights erupted at the Sarinah shopping mall in Jalan Tamrin downtown area in Jakarta at about 11:15am, with at least three people confirmed dead by the Indonesian government The scene of the violence is reportedly situated near the Indonesian Presidential Office and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. (TNA)