Fire guts Surabaya's high security prison<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A high-security prison, packed with 610 inmates,
\nin Surabaya's southern suburb of Sidoarjo caught fire late
\nWednesday and continued to burn until yesterday morning, police
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five staff of the Medaeng prison had been detained for
\nquestioning on how the fire started because arson was suspected,
\nEast Java police spokesman Lt. Col. Sofwat Hadi said.<\/p>\n
\"I assure you that none of the prisoners escaped. Hundreds of
\npolice special force personnel surrounded the prison as soon as
\nthe fire started,\" Safwat was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Sofwat declined to say if there were any injuries in the fire,
\nthe first at the prison. But said the authorities had fired
\nwarning shots and tear gas to stop inmates fleeing.<\/p>\n
He said the fire started at about 11 p.m. The extend of damage
\nis yet to be estimated.<\/p>\n
Among the 610 prisoners are three Democratic People's Party
\nactivists, Dita Indah Sari, Hohamad Soleh and Husein Coen Pontoh,
\nwho are doing time for subversion.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, police were keeping a close eye on the Surabaya
\noffice of the Nahdlatul Ulama -- the 30 million-strong Moslem
\norganization headed by Abdurrahman Wahid -- after a caller
\nthreatened Wednesday to burn it down.<\/p>\n
The office's secretary, Fuad Anwar, said yesterday the caller
\nhad identified himself as Ismail, a student of the well-known
\nMoslem propagator Alawy Mohamad from Madura.<\/p>\n
Ismail said he had been enraged by the office's statement that
\nAlawy was not a Nahdlatul Ulama executive, Fuad said.<\/p>\n
The dispute between the organization and the preacher became
\npublic at an election campaign rally last month when Alawy said
\nthat Nahdlatul Ulama's 1984 pledge to quit politics was wrong.
\n(pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fire-guts-surabayas-high-security-prison-1447893297",
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