JP\/3\/Fire<\/p>\n
Fire makes 1,000 homeless and razes shopping center<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): More than 1,000 people lost their houses in a
\nfire at the slum area in West Tebet Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday evening over 100 shopowners lost their business
\nsites when a fire gutted the Aldiron Plaza in the Blok M business
\ncenter.<\/p>\n
No casualties were reported at either fire, both located in
\nSouth Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Spokesman of the South Jakarta mayoralty, Mohamad Yanis, said
\nthat 230 families had lost their houses following the three-hour
\nfire which razed some one-hectare slum area in the West Tebet
\nsubdistrict.<\/p>\n
Yanis added that the government and the Indonesian Red Cross
\nhad set up a communal kitchen to prepare hot meals for the
\nvictims. They had also built two temporary shelters at nearby
\npublic buildings.<\/p>\n
Yanis, however, said that South Jakarta acting mayor Zaenal
\nArifin had ordered the local administration to bar residents from
\nrebuilding the area on the grounds that the plots do not belong
\nto them.<\/p>\n
"They occupied the area which, according to the master plan,
\nis slated to be a green belt zone," the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
The mayoralty had yet to implement the master plan pending
\ninstructions from the governor.<\/p>\n
The mayoralty had reportedly appropriated 17 hectares of the
\nproposed 22-hectare green belt zone, which include the burned
\none-hectare slum area.<\/p>\n
Toran said that he was told by witnesses that the fire started
\nat 10.30 a.m., following an explosion of a gas stove at a
\nfurniture shop.<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta police precinct is still running a further
\ninvestigation, he added.<\/p>\n
An official of the South Jakarta fire department said that 20
\nfire engines arrived on the scene to extinguish the fire and calm
\ndown local residents who were hysterically running through the
\nflames to rescue their belongings.<\/p>\n
Aldiron<\/p>\n
At the famous Blok M business center, hundreds of shopowners
\nof the five-story Aldiron Plaza lost their property when a fire
\nrazed the third and fourth floor of the shopping center at around
\n10:30 p.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The police believe that the fire resulted from an electricity
\nshort circuit in a neon advertising sign at one of the stores at
\nthe third floor.<\/p>\n
No casualties were reported, but several stores on the first
\nand second floors were damaged by the firemen in their bid to
\nblockade the fire.<\/p>\n
The amount of loss of goods and property has yet to be
\ncalculated but it might reach into millions of rupiahs.<\/p>\n
The first and second floor are allocated for jewelry and
\nfashion shops, the third floor for food stalls, the fourth for
\nbooks and stationery items and the fifth for offices.<\/p>\n
Most of the shopowners, shopkeepers and office employees of
\nthe Aldiron Plaza only heard about the fire when they arrived the
\nmorning after for work.<\/p>\n
"I had no idea about the fire until I arrived this morning for
\nwork," said Melly, a shopowner.<\/p>\n
As of Wednesday afternoon, police have kept the plaza cordoned
\noff while a team from the police forensic laboratory conducted
\ntheir investigation inside.<\/p>\n
So far, police have questioned three local security guards
\nbelieved to have been near the scene when the fire took place.
\n(09\/bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp3fire-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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