JAKARTA, Indonesia; An explosion tore through the luxury JW Marriott Hotel and surrounding buildings in Jakarta's main business district leaving at least eight people dead, witnesses said. The blast ripped apart a restaurant and part of the lobby, as well as buildings on either side of the hotel in the Auningang district south of the city centre. Police declined to confirm if the explosion was caused by a bomb, but witnesses at the scene said it was believed to have been a car bomb. The blast comes just two days before a court is due to hand down the first verdict in the trials of Islamic militants accused of carrying out the bombing of two nightclubs on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last year. Share prices on the Jakarta stock exchange plunged more than four percent after the explosion at the hotel, which was a popular meeting venue for foreign business executives and expatriates. Window panels in the hotel and next door Rajali Tower were shattered for several floors. Flames could be seen burning from the ground floor of the hotel and from at least eight cars in front of the hotel lobby. The badly-burned bodies of two people, both appearing to be male, lay on the driveway in front of the office building next to the Marriott waiting for an ambulance to carry them away. "I saw several taxis burned in front .... it's believed from a car bomb," Hartono, a journalist from the Kompas daily, told Elshinta radio. He said foreigners were among the group of people he saw who were seriously wounded and brought to waiting ambulances. The area was closed to the public as crowds gathered at the scene. Witnesses said they could see several dead bodies at the site.