Bells break the silence as Aussies mourn Bali victims

The country paused for a minute’s silence at midday as church bells tolled across the continent. ‘‘We, the survivors, saw some truly horrendous things that will never leave us,’’ blast survivor Eric da Haart told a gathering for his missing teammates at a Sydney Rugby Club. Australian Prime Minister John Howard called for racial tolerance and said his government remained committed to the US-led global war on terror.

‘‘Let us remember the people for their love of life and what they gave to others and to their country,’’ Howard said in a speech broadcast to a service in Sydney.

Australians, who traditionally feel isolated from traumatic world events by dint of distance, have been stunned by the bomb attacks on the Indonesian holiday island which many considered the country’s playground.

The latest death toll lists 103 Australians as dead or missing after the blasts, which killed around 180 people. Many of those killed were young surfers or sports people celebrating the end of the winter season.

Thousands of people wearing a sprig of wattle, Australia’s national flower, poured into Sydney’s Domain park for the ‘‘Australians Together’’ ceremony – the biggest gathering to mark the day of mourning.

Victims’ relatives and prominent entertainers and sports people addressed the crowd, which included Indonesians and members of the Muslim community.

Surfers on the Gold Coast in Queensland state took to the water on their boards for a ceremony, while others mourned in football clubs and in private homes around the nation.

Hundreds of people gathered on an oval in the Sydney beachside suburb of Coogee where the local rugby league club lost six members. (Reuters)