At least 188 people died after a bomb ripped through a crowded bar on the Indonesian island of Bali at the weekend.

Some of those who survived the bombing have been writing to BBC News Online, with their personal testimonies and thoughts.

All your worst nightmares mixed up together

Daan Zuur, Dutch tourist

"I'm alive and only just - by five minutes," a New Zealander writes.

He and his friends had parked opposite the Sari Club - the main venue targeted - and were walking to a nearby bar when they heard a huge explosion.

"Everyone was running and screaming," he writes.

"We ran out and away from the noise. We looked down the road and there was a big fire. We didn't know what it was but I knew that we had to get away, as fire rips through these substandard buildings really fast and I didn't want to get caught in a stampede."

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One vision haunts the New Zealand writer:

"I keep thinking of a woman I saw begging, with a young baby. That was shocking in itself, but now I think she probably didn't make it, she was right by the Sari Club."

Another eyewitness, Daan Zuur from the Netherlands, writes: "I was in Paddy's pub, 20 meters away. All your worst nightmares mixed up together, after one big ball of fire."

Orange sky

Others were a bit further away, but felt they had a narrow escape. One is British expatriate James Hardcastle, who decided to have a brandy or two on the beach on Saturday night, before heading to the Sari Club.

The blast destroyed a nightspot for tourists

"I am only very glad that the brandy on the beach turned into quite a few as the setting was so lovely," he writes.

"I remember seeing and hearing the blast on the beach and not knowing at the time what had happened. The intensity must have been incredible as the whole night sky was lit up orange."

Bobby, from Edmonton in Canada, was waiting at his hotel for a friend who was late - both were planning to head straight for the Sari Club.

"The bomb must have been huge as glass was shattering where I was over 1 kilometre (.6 miles) away. I initially thought it was a gas explosion as that was the rumour on the streets.

It wasn't until we checked the BBC website about two hours later that we knew for sure it was a bomb."

Shattered reputation

Wayan, a Balinese studying in Britain, heard the blast as he was talking to his father on the telephone.

Bali was seen as a haven of peace

"Then I saw on the BBC there was news about my lovely place and afterwards I cried," he writes.

"The reputation of Bali as a safe place and island of paradise are history," Wayan adds.

Sarah-Jane, an English woman living and working in Bali, shares these fears.

"I have been in a state of shock since the events of last night," she writes.

"My Balinese staff have arrived to work today, after not sleeping the whole night. They understand that not only have there been the mortally injured, but that their island will no longer be seen as the haven it was and has been for centuries. They are as shocked as the rest of the world. May this all stop, please?"

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