Sheer pandemonium

CAPT Jonathan Steinbeck and his wife were holidaying in Bali and had just gone to bed when they heard an explosion and the lights outside the hotel went out.

Capt Steinbeck then went to find out what was happening.

“I told my wife I’d see her in two hours, which turned out to be a lie – I think I saw her again about 30 hours later,” he said.

“I got to the site of the explosion about 30 minutes later – the Sari club was completely demolished and was all flames.

“Paddy’s Pub was a three-story structure and that was knocked back to the framework and there were flames all over.”

Capt Steinbeck went to the consulate and was then sent to the Denpasar Military Hospital to act as interpreter and find any wounded Australians.

“It was sheer pandemonium. The emergency room was completely swamped. They didn’t have enough doctors or medicine. I saw some pretty horrendous sights in there.”

Capt Steinbeck found wounded soldier 2Lt Stuart Anstee among the blast victims and was impressed by the young soldier’s loyalty to his mates.

“He was very badly burnt but what impressed me was that as soon as he knew I had come from the consulate, he wanted to let me know he had three Army mates missing.

Back at the consulate, Capt Steinbeck went to work on the telephone answering calls from Australians wanting to know where their loved ones were.

In the days that followed, his skills as an interpreter were put to use in liaising with staff at the mortuary.

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