Surfers, backpackers and pleasure-seekers: the tragedy of young lives lost on one bloody night

"I just can't find anything in my heart to say that some time in the future I might find forgiveness for this," Ray Gajardo said yesterday.

For Mr Gajardo, whose 30-year-old son, Marc, died in the Bali bomb attack, yesterday was no time for platitudes but for raw grief. Losing his "irrepressible, outgoing" son to an indiscriminate crime which claimed the lives of 181 people was, for him at least, a time for "total hatred".

"I feel angry that these people are so misguided and so incredibly bitter and hateful towards the world that they can take away the lives of innocent people without any thought, without any care," he said.

Like Marc, most, if not all of the 30-or-so Britons feared murdered in the Bali blasts had no quarrel with the Islamic extremists believed to be responsible. They had, perhaps, little understanding of the political undercurrents which culminated in such a deadly act.

Most were young surfers and backpackers simply intent on having a good time in a beautiful country.

Marc's last few minutes were spent dancing with his girlfriend Hanabeth Luke, 22, at the Sari Club in Kuta. He decided to go out and get some air while she remained, dancing with another British girl. As Marc left the club he walked into the full force of the car bomb. Tragically, had he stayed behind, he would most probably have survived along with his girlfriend. She escaped the inferno which engulfed the club by jumping out of a window.

"It was an incredible force of wind and heat. I was lying on the floor. I may even have hit the ceiling. It was black and then there was the cracking of flames," said Ms Luke, an environmental biology student. "I just ran over the rubble and catapulted over the wall holding on to this electrical wire."

As she emerged from the club, she cried out for Marc, but almost immediately knew he was dead.

The couple, who met two years ago surfing in St Agnes in Cornwall, were on their way back to Byron Bay, near Brisbane, where they lived with her family. Marc had planned to emigrate to Australia and had already applied for citizenship.

Their passion for surfing was one of the reasons they had been tempted to stop off in Bali on their way back to Australia from a three-month break in the UK. It was how they had spent Marc's last day.

"They were having a fantastic time in Bali and Marc rang to tell us about the great surfing, the beautiful beaches and the clubbing with all the other youngsters there," said Mr Gajardo. "Hanabeth had rung a couple of days earlier and said Marc was smiling from ear to ear and was enjoying life so much. That is what we are trying to hold on to."

Along with his wife Carole, 59, and Marc's older brother Steve, the family from Carnon Downs, Cornwall were trying to take in the enormity of the news which was broken to them by Hanabeth in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"I watched a couple of minutes of news and had to turn it off because I could not bear to see the scenes. We are trying to keep a picture of Marc in our minds. A happy picture of him and Hanabeth with his lovely suntanned face and his big smile and his over-the-top clothes, the flamboyant things he wore," his father said.

A mechanic with a passion for music, Marc was remembered yesterday for his "humour and energy".

Unable to contain his tears, his father added: "He loved the world and he loved life and he loved people. I don't think he ever fell out with anyone. He was so good-natured and so strong."

The bitterness of being deprived of their son in such a way boiled over as he added: "I have got total anger inside for the people who did this. Ever since I learned of Marc's death the anger and hatred has been surging up."

"I just cannot understand the mentality of people who can kill so many innocent young people," his wife added.

Contemplating the similar devastation and "helplessness" being felt by families across the world yesterday, Mr Gajardo continued: "They have killed so many young people. They did not care what colour they were, what race, what religion, what age. They have just killed people at random and in that way it is just like 11 September."

Mr Gajardo, 64, a musician, said the family was hoping to bring their son's body home next week for a funeral.

Last night the Foreign Office confirmed that Paul Hussey, a British hotel owner, had been killed in the bombing. From the moment her brother failed to answer his mobile phone, Sue Cooper feared the worst.

Mr Hussey, 46, had moved to Kuta Beach in March to run two hotels. "I heard about the bomb on Saturday night and when the news report said it was in Kuta I panicked as I knew that was where Paul had his hotels," said Ms Cooper.

"I called his mobile and could not get through so I started to get even more worried.

"I called up the hotel and asked the staff if they had seen him. Everyone, the managers and security staff, started to search for him.

"They found him this morning in the hospital. He was already in a body bag. There were no burn marks, so I think he was caught outside the club. But both his legs were blown clean off."

Across the country in County Durham, Ian Findley's family were contemplating their grief. While the 55-year-old car mechanic had yet to be confirmed among the dead last night, his brother Brian said that "deep down" they knew that was the case. "From what we know Ian took the full force of the blast. I think the others must have been behind him."

Mr Findley, 55, of West Pelton, had been due to return yesterday from a two-week holiday in the place he called "paradise island".

The father-of-one had been leaving the club with friend Ian Stafford when he was caught by the bomb.

Mr Findley, who ran a car repair garage in Craghead, near his home in West Pelton, had a daughter, Amanda, 26, and had been married twice.

As well as his brother, he had three sisters and an 81-year-old mother, Loraine.

"When Staffy rang my sister Debbie he was screaming down the phone. He said that there had been some trouble, an explosion and that Ian was dead.

"The terrible part is just not knowing, but deep down we believe he is dead," Brian Findley said, adding: "My mother keeps saying that he is out there all on his own and all we want is to bring him back home."