TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-An Indonesian post-graduate student in Boston University, Amir Karimuddin, said that the Boston bombing suspects lived in Cambridge, an area where many Indonesians lived.
“They lived in Cambridge, where many Indonesians stay and study, including those who study in Harvard and MIT,” he said through an electronic mail to Tempo, Sunday, April 21.
He stated that the two suspects lived a normal daily life. He also explained that Boston was a calm and peaceful city where its citizens upholds diversity, including religion diversity.
“Boston has a large and active muslim community consisted of many ethnicities,” he said.
Shortly before the incident, Amir, along with his wife and son, was at a children playground, six stations away from the location of the blast. They were planning to go to the Boston Marathon’s finish line, but the trains were full and they cancelled to go. On their way home, Amir saw people got panicked and Boston police cars speeding on the street.
“When we checked our twitters, we found out that there were explosions at the Boston Marathon finish line,” he said. He mentioned that the streets were empty shortly after the blasts.
He continued that during the pursuit of the suspects, q people had to stay at home and public transportations were shut down for the whole day.
Amir lives in Newton, close enough to the suspects’ location in Watertown. “Greater Boston was like a ghost town for the whole day,” he concluded.
MARIA YUNIAR
