The publicity-shy tycoon who owns both the JW Marriott and Ritz- Carlton hotels has vowed to rebuild the bombed establishments.
Indonesian-Chinese taipan Tan Kian yesterday said he was rushing back to Jakarta to deal with the aftermath of the blasts. He was in Tokyo when the news broke.
'I will rebuild my hotels as I did in the past,' Mr Tan said by telephone, refusing to comment further.
Mr Tan, 51, was referring to the fact that he reopened the Marriott less than a month after the 2003 attack in which a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the entrance of the hotel, killing 12 people.
The hotel had since thrived and regained its reputation as one of the top business hotels in the city, frequented by foreign and local businessmen as well as government officials and foreign heads of state.
Victims of the first Marriott bombing speak warmly of Mr Tan, expressing gratitude to him for looking after their welfare and taking care of their medical bills.