14 people dead as fire guts Yogyakarta cinema
YOGYAKARTA (JP): At least 14 people were killed in a fire which gutted a downtown cinema complex here just before midnight on Thursday.
Among the eight bodies identified were Terje Sandblost and Marit Namtvedt, two Norwegian citizens who were in post-graduate studies at the local state-run Gadjah Mada University.
Police said on Friday the death toll climbed to 16 after two more charred bodies were found in the rubble of the Regent 21 cinema complex, although a body count in the three largest hospitals in town found only 14 corpses.
At least six people are being treated at the Sardjito General Hospital.
The fatalities were Rahmat Purwanto, Mulaina Dewi, Suprapto, Aris Tri Munandar, Dwi Nurhayati and Kiyat, the theater's security guard.
Eleven bodies were kept in Sardjito Hospital, two in Bethesda Christian Hospital and one in Panti Rapih Catholic Hospital.
Witnesses said the fire started in the cinema complex, when three of the four theaters were showing movies at about 11 p.m. Some 50 people were inside the theater, which occupied the upper story of Wijaya Building amusement center on Jl. Urip Sumohardjo.
The fatalities were believed to have difficulty escaping the burning theaters. The two flights of stairs in the building were too narrow to accommodate the people rushing for safety. Some people tried to break the windows, but to no avail.
At least five fire engines were sent to the scene. It took the fire department two and a half hours to extinguish the fire.
"The fire quickly engulfed the first and second floor simultaneously. It started from the front part of the cinema complex," Hariadi, a witness, told The Jakarta Post.
One of the survivors, Agus Hadi, said the lights inside the movie theater suddenly turned off and he saw fire inside the building.
"When I got out of the theater, I saw the fire intensify. Then we tried to find the ladder and hastily jumped down onto the ground when we almost reached the first floor. It was very dark inside," Agus told the state-run TVRI station.
Bethesda Hospital spokeswoman Sri Prapti Winarni said a Norwegian survivor, Bente Robertsen, 23, was suffering from minor burns and was in shock.
"She always asks the whereabouts of her two friends, apparently she doesn't know that both her friends have died," Prapti said.
Prapti quoted Robertsen as saying that her two friends, Sandblost and Namtvedt, were guiding her out of the burning theater when she tumbled and fainted.
Prapti said a survivor, Yasinta, was in critical condition at the hospital not because of burns, but due to a concussion and serious respiratory condition. "She inhaled too much carbon monoxide when she was unconscious," Prapti said.
Police doubted the fire was caused by a short circuit as many suspected.
"There is an indication of arson, but so far we can't say anything before the investigation is completed," Yogyakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Anwaruddin told reporters.
Witnesses said that a taxi driver was told by a stranger to immediately leave the building's vicinity about an hour before the fire started.
Another witness testified that the fire, which was said to have started from the mosque in front of the movie theaters, came from behind.
Other witnesses said a powerful blast was heard from behind the building before the fire gutted it. (23/24/emf)