Matraman witnesses commonplace brawl<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of angry Kebon Manggis and Pal Meriam
\nresidents of Matraman, East Jakarta, strung arrows, threw rocks
\nand Molotov cocktails at each other, and exchanged stick blows on
\nThursday over a sudden stabbing of a man who incidentally got off
\na bus in their area.<\/p>\n
No fatalities were reported, but six were injured. Two
\nresidents suffered wounds from air rifle shots, two sustained
\nhead injuries, and one man was struck by an arrow on his cheek.<\/p>\n
Matraman Police chief Capt. Bambang Hadipurnomo said on
\nThursday the brawl occurred due to an unrelated incident.<\/p>\n
\"A Mampang resident of South Jakarta, Nanang, got off the
\npublic bus 916, which serves the Tanah Abang-Kampung Melayu
\nroute, in front of the Surya Padang restaurant, near Jl. Tegalan,
\nat about 2 p.m... the Pal Meriam side,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
\"He got down, and eight people surrounded him... one man
\nstabbed him. Others grabbed his wallet and left.\"<\/p>\n
Nanang was rushed to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital,
\nbut some ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers managed to chase after a
\nfleeing suspect.<\/p>\n
\"The suspect disappeared somewhere in Berlan, in the Kebon
\nManggis area,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
After that, Pal Meriam and Kebon Manggis residents just came
\nout with their machetes, rocks, arrows, sticks and air rifles and
\nstarted aiming at one another.<\/p>\n
Less than 100 officers from East Jakarta Police, the Matraman
\nPolice, the Jakarta Police and the Military Police, were seen in
\nthe area standing by and watching.<\/p>\n
\"What can we do? We do anything crazy, the residents will aim
\nat us,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
East Jakarta Police could not send for reinforcements, since
\nits personnel were deployed in Duren Sawit, to watch over the
\npossibility of another protest by City Tap Water Company (PDAM
\nJaya) employees, and in the area of the paint factory PT
\nDanapaint, on Jl. Pemuda in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The paint factory's empty warehouse, which was filled with
\nchemicals, was burned down on Thursday morning in unclear
\ncircumstances.<\/p>\n
Separately, East Jakarta Police Chief of Detectives Capt. Agus
\nIrianto said on Thursday that police had yet to find the source
\nof the fire, which burned down the factory's warehouse,
\ncontaining chemicals and basic materials to manufacture paint, at
\n8:50 a.m. on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"It happened when the factory workers were all on a holiday in
\nYogyakarta,\" Agus told reporters.<\/p>\n
A warehouse security guard Suryanto said there were only three
\nguards when the incident happened, namely Sumarmo, Amir Machmud
\nand himself.<\/p>\n
\"Sumarmo was the first to notice the smoke, coming out from
\nthe locked warehouse. We tried to get help, but in a very short
\ntime, the fire became very big. We were frantic when we heard the
\nloud bursts of the chemical drums inside the warehouse,\" Suryanto
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Local residents came to help put out the fire... the fire was
\nquite enormous by the time the 19 fire engines from South
\nJakarta, East Jakarta and North Jakarta arrived.\"<\/p>\n
The fire was put out in an hour's time. (ylt)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/matraman-witnesses-commonplace-brawl-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }