14 people dead as fire guts Yogyakarta cinema<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): At least 14 people were killed in a fire
\nwhich gutted a downtown cinema complex here just before midnight
\non Thursday.<\/p>\n
Among the eight bodies identified were Terje Sandblost and
\nMarit Namtvedt, two Norwegian citizens who were in post-graduate
\nstudies at the local state-run Gadjah Mada University.<\/p>\n
Police said on Friday the death toll climbed to 16 after two
\nmore charred bodies were found in the rubble of the Regent 21
\ncinema complex, although a body count in the three largest
\nhospitals in town found only 14 corpses.<\/p>\n
At least six people are being treated at the Sardjito General
\nHospital.<\/p>\n
The fatalities were Rahmat Purwanto, Mulaina Dewi, Suprapto,
\nAris Tri Munandar, Dwi Nurhayati and Kiyat, the theater's
\nsecurity guard.<\/p>\n
Eleven bodies were kept in Sardjito Hospital, two in Bethesda
\nChristian Hospital and one in Panti Rapih Catholic Hospital.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the fire started in the cinema complex, when
\nthree of the four theaters were showing movies at about 11 p.m.
\nSome 50 people were inside the theater, which occupied the upper
\nstory of Wijaya Building amusement center on Jl. Urip Sumohardjo.<\/p>\n
The fatalities were believed to have difficulty escaping the
\nburning theaters. The two flights of stairs in the building were
\ntoo narrow to accommodate the people rushing for safety. Some
\npeople tried to break the windows, but to no avail.<\/p>\n
At least five fire engines were sent to the scene. It took the
\nfire department two and a half hours to extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n
\"The fire quickly engulfed the first and second floor
\nsimultaneously. It started from the front part of the cinema
\ncomplex,\" Hariadi, a witness, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
One of the survivors, Agus Hadi, said the lights inside the
\nmovie theater suddenly turned off and he saw fire inside the
\nbuilding.<\/p>\n
\"When I got out of the theater, I saw the fire intensify. Then
\nwe tried to find the ladder and hastily jumped down onto the
\nground when we almost reached the first floor. It was very dark
\ninside,\" Agus told the state-run TVRI station.<\/p>\n
Bethesda Hospital spokeswoman Sri Prapti Winarni said a
\nNorwegian survivor, Bente Robertsen, 23, was suffering from minor
\nburns and was in shock.<\/p>\n
\"She always asks the whereabouts of her two friends,
\napparently she doesn't know that both her friends have died,\"
\nPrapti said.<\/p>\n
Prapti quoted Robertsen as saying that her two friends,
\nSandblost and Namtvedt, were guiding her out of the burning
\ntheater when she tumbled and fainted.<\/p>\n
Prapti said a survivor, Yasinta, was in critical condition at
\nthe hospital not because of burns, but due to a concussion and
\nserious respiratory condition. \"She inhaled too much carbon
\nmonoxide when she was unconscious,\" Prapti said.<\/p>\n
Police doubted the fire was caused by a short circuit as many
\nsuspected.<\/p>\n
\"There is an indication of arson, but so far we can't say
\nanything before the investigation is completed,\" Yogyakarta
\nPolice chief Lt. Col. Anwaruddin told reporters.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said that a taxi driver was told by a stranger to
\nimmediately leave the building's vicinity about an hour before
\nthe fire started.<\/p>\n
Another witness testified that the fire, which was said to
\nhave started from the mosque in front of the movie theaters, came
\nfrom behind.<\/p>\n
Other witnesses said a powerful blast was heard from behind
\nthe building before the fire gutted it. (23\/24\/emf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/14-people-dead-as-fire-guts-yogyakarta-cinema-1447893297",
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