Bogor mayor stops Bogor fire search operation<\/p>\n
BOGOR, West Java (JP): Bogor Mayor Eddy Gunardi ordered the
\nsearch for the victims of the Pasar Kebon Kembang market fire
\nstopped yesterday and announced that only 10 people were killed.<\/p>\n
More than 70 people were reported to have been killed by the
\nmass media.<\/p>\n
He said the remaining 66 plastic bags, out of the 76 believed
\nto contain ashes of human bodies, which were sent to the Red
\nCross Hospital, contained other materials. The mayor did not say
\nhow this conclusion was made before laboratory examinations were
\ndone.<\/p>\n
A hospital pathologist, Dr. Budi Sampurna, told reporters
\nyesterday that the ashes were still under examination. He said it
\nwould take at least one week for the forensics team made up of
\npolice experts and doctors to complete the examinations.<\/p>\n
"We have definitely identified 10 bodies. We are still unsure
\nabout the content of the 66 bags. But there is a small
\npossibility that the ashes are those of human bodies," he said.<\/p>\n
Up to yesterday evening, only the body of Muslimah, a resident
\nof Lampung, Sumatra, had yet to be claimed by relatives.<\/p>\n
Setyadi Surya, the director of public relations for PT Ramaya
\nLestari Sentosa, which manages the Ramayana Department Store,
\nsaid in a press conference in Jakarta yesterday that all Ramayana
\nBogor employees were summoned yesterday morning and "only 10 were
\nmissing".<\/p>\n
According to the management, the missing employees are
\nMuslimah, 23, Partini, 23, Atik, 24, Uci. R., 21, Yati Hidayanti,
\n24, Nurfaidah, 22, Zainah, 22, Eliyah, 22, Yosi Anggraini, 22,
\nand Nurhasanah, 18.<\/p>\n
"On behalf of the management I herewith correct the media
\nreports that 76 of our employees were killed in the fire," he
\nsaid. He explained that there were at least 50 mannequins at the
\nshop when the fire broke out, which might have led to some
\nconfusion in attempts to retrieve bodies.<\/p>\n
The fire burned down five blocks of the three-story market
\nbuilding on Thursday morning. Some Ramayana Department Store
\nemployees were on the third floor when the fire started.<\/p>\n
Survivors and local traders said that it was hard for people
\nto find a way out because only one of the five doors were open at
\nthe time.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said they saw some employees trying to get out
\nthrough the only entrance in Block B, where the fire reportedly
\noriginated. Some of them managed to jump out of the windows.<\/p>\n
It took 12 fire-fighting units until Friday afternoon to bring
\nthe fire under control. Yesterday, firefighters were still
\npouring water onto spots which were still smoking.<\/p>\n
The regional manager of Ramayana Bogor, Imam Pranoto, said
\nthat the company would give the relatives of the victims Rp 10
\nmillion (US$ 4,500) each in compensation, apart from the
\ninsurance.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the traders at the ground and second floors of the
\nmarket building asked for police permission to check their
\nbelongings in the shops. The building had 2,600 kiosks on the two
\nfloors below.<\/p>\n
"We will be allowed to enter the market compound on Monday,"
\ntrader Sapardi said.<\/p>\n
Many traders were skeptical about the body count yesterday,
\nsaying that it was not clear whether colleagues, who were trying
\nto save merchandise as the fire spread, survived the inferno.<\/p>\n
"We are not sure if they left the place or were trapped in the
\nblaze," Wisman said.<\/p>\n
Mayor Gunardi acknowledged that local traders had complained
\nabout weaknesses in the market construction. Their complaints
\nfocussed on the same problems that made it difficult for the
\nfirefighters to get into the building.<\/p>\n
Local traders have complained, since the Ramayana Department
\nStore went in two years ago, about the five blocks of the market
\nbeing linked together at the top.<\/p>\n
"The five blocks should have been separated from each other to
\nprevent fire from spreading throughout the entire area," Gunardi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Pasar Kebon Kembang market was constructed in 1989, and
\nthe annex building on the top floor, which was rented by
\nRamayana, was built three years ago.<\/p>\n
Gunardi said he was appointed only two years ago. He promised
\nto be more careful in giving permits for any public construction
\nin the future.<\/p>\n
The annex, the latest part of the market, should have had an
\nadequate number of emergency doors, he said.<\/p>\n
Imam Pranoto said yesterday that the design of the existing
\nstructure was approved by the authorities, and that the
\nconstruction was covered by legal permits. The management also
\nhad permission from local traders to open the department store
\nthere.<\/p>\n
"We wouldn't have been here if we hadn't been permitted," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Bogor store is one of 43 outlets in 15 towns, owned by PT
\nRamayana Lestari Sentosa. The company employs 15,000 workers,
\nmostly female. Led by Paulus Tumewu, the company also owns the
\nRobinson department store chain. Both are aimed at buyers of
\nmiddle to lower income levels.<\/p>\n
In January the Warta Ekonomi business magazine reported that
\nthe Ramayana and Robinson stores had assets of Rp 400 billion
\n(US$171,16 million), with revenues of Rp 409 billion last year.<\/p>\n
Set up as a small store in 1974, the company is listed among
\nthe 300 top companies by the Indonesian Business Data Center.<\/p>\n
Another fire which killed workers trapped in a building
\noccurred in 1987 in Jakarta. Twenty-one garment factory workers
\nwere killed in Tambora district, West Jakarta. (team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bogor-mayor-stops-bogor-fire-search-operation-1447893297",
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