Bali Nine executions: Authorities took 27 minutes to confirm deaths

It took 27 minutes for Indonesian authorities to confirm that the eight drug convicts executed by a firing squad on Nusakambangan Island, including the Bali Nine masterminds Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were dead, according to local media reports.

Local media quoted spokesman for the Attorney-General Tony Spontana saying they were shot at '00.35 and died at 01.02'.

It is likely it took that amount of time for doctors to confirm each of the victims were deceased, but it also raises the question; did they die instantly?

Under Indonesia's execution regulations, the leader of the firing squad will kill an execution victim with a bullet to the head if they don't die instantly.

Australia has still not received official confirmation that Chan and Myuran have been killed.

The executions went ahead despite heavy international pressure on Indonesia and President Joko Widodo to grant clemency.

Chan and Sukumaran were allowed to have their chosen spiritual guides with them in their last moments, after Indonesian authorities had a change of heart.

Salvation Army minister David Soper and minister Christie Buckingham were to give Chan and Sukumaran solace and their last rites.

Prayers were said for each of the eight, according to their respective religion, after the executions.

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The others executed were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze, and Ghanaian Martin Anderson.

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso of the Philippines was spared after a woman who allegedly recruited her to act as a drug courier gave himself up to police in the Philippines on Tuesday.

Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 34, are the first Australians to be executed since December 2, 2005, when 25-year-old Melbourne man Van Tuong Nguyen was hanged in Singapore after being caught at Changi Airport with almost 400g of heroin.

The families spent their final hours with their loved ones on Nusakambangan on Tuesday before returning to the port town of Cilacap.

Andrew Chan's brother Michael had earlier tweeted: "Counting down the minutes until I loose a great Friend and Courageous brother.!! You will never be forgotten by so many".

Australia's Consul General to Bali, Majell Hind, and lawyer Julian McMahon are also on Nusakambangan for official duties.

Ms Hind will receive the bodies of Chan and Sukumaran and take legal responsibility for them on the island.

It is understood the bodies will be driven some ten hours to Jakarta by local ambulance with an Australian consular officer following the execution.

The Australians' bodies will then be flown back to Sydney.

Chan and Sukumaran's Indonesian lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis has tweeted "I am sorry. I failed. I lost."

Australian politicians have also tweeted their anger at the deaths.

"There are few greater displays of abuse of State power and regressive thinking than the death penalty. #RIP," parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs Steve Ciobo tweeted.

While opposition frontbencher Tony Burke said "Lives lost. Nothing gained. #IStandForMercy".

Morning news break – April 29