11 trapped in fire, another jumps to death

JAKARTA (JP): Twelve people died when a fire gutted a three- story shop/house in Duta Harapan Indah, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, yesterday.

Eleven of the victims died after being trapped by the flames. They were identified as Waridi, 18, Rasnoto, 21, Ani, 20, Atik, 19, Didi, 19, Alang, 20, Edo, 20, Darniah, 18, Amin, 22, Syamsuri, 21 and Suswanto, 26. Their badly burned bodies were recovered yesterday.

The other victim, Turnia, 21, broke her neck after jumping from the third floor of the building to escape the flames. Her husband, Bambang, 30, who survived the incident, said she was four-months pregnant.

All the victims were employees of PT Dali Natama Busana Permai, a private garment producer, who worked and lived in the shop/house.

The fire started at 3 a.m. Initial reports suggested it was started by an electric short circuit on the first floor of the building which did not have any fire exits.

The fire then spread to the second floor, where employees were sleeping after finishing work on the night shift.

Three fire engines were dispatched to the scene. The blaze was brought under control at about 5 a.m..

"But we could not do much to save the people trapped on the second floor because the door had been locked from the outside by the shop/house supervisors," head of North Jakarta Fire Department Abdullah Bachri said.

"We're currently investigating the incident in cooperation with officers from Penjaringan Police Subprecinct," he said.

Bambang told The Jakarta Post that he was trying to open the door on the third floor when his wife panicked and jumped out of the window.

"I was trying to look for a way out because I could not breathe due to the very thick smoke. Some of my friends yelled when they saw Turnia jump out of the window, but it was already too late," Bambang said tearfully.

He said he left their 4-year-old daughter with neighbors in Penjaringan, not far away from the site of the fire.

"I do not know what to do. Maybe this is God's will," he said.

Police are currently looking for the owner of the shop/house, Susun Chandra.

Bambang was among nine people on the third floor who survived. The other eight were identified as Amin Alfi, 34 and his wife Gek Kwian, 33, the shop/house supervisors; Darto, 30, Jabar Darsono, 23, Warmunah, 17, Sasroni, 19, Andi, 17 and Hadi, 19.

All were being treated at Atmajaya Hospital in Pluit, North Jakarta. Amin and Jabar reportedly suffered severe burns.

Gek Kwian, who fractured her hip bone, said she locked the door from outside on the orders of her employer.

"I never thought that it would be like this," she said.

Head of the city fire department Suharso said yesterday that the fatalities occurred largely because the building's owner had failed to install a proper fire extinguisher system.

"The system was not there. Even the building's structure had been altered so that there was no exit door for people to get out of the building," he said.

This year, 253 fires have been recorded. Three hundred were reported in the corresponding period last year, Suharso said.

"At least 16 people have died in fires this year. I think this year's deaths might exceed last year's 39 fatalities," he added. (edt/cst)