A number of hotels in Kuta tourist complex, Bali, were burned down in a series of fires that engulfed four hotels and a group of tourist cottages. The fires took hold at around 2.30pm and were not put out until about four hours later. Fire engines had difficulty reaching the locations because of the narrow roads.

The total damage is thought to run into billions of rupiahs; there were no casualties as guests were on the beach at the time. The fires are being described as the largest in the tourist island for a number of years.

Three days earlier, on Tuesday last week, a discoteque was also burned down, inflicting heavy losses for the proprietor.

The police are are questioning three people about the fires.

[The report makes no attempt to assess possible motivation for the fires but it may well be that these are actions by local people unhappy at the way their island has been taken over by the tourist trade, with many hotels owned by members of the well-connected elite in Indonesia, not least by members of the Suharto Family.]