4 family members died in a fire

4 family members died in a fire

JAKARTA (JP): A mother and her three daughters died when fire
swept through their house on Friday in Permata Indah Park housing
complex in Pejagalan subdistrict, North Jakarta, an officer said
on Friday.

North Jakarta Police detectives chief Asst. Supt. Eko Indra
Heri identified the 29-year old mother as Yenni and her three
daughters as Sharon, 4, and two month-old twins Brindcey and
Jannick.

"The four were locked in a room of their two-story house when
the fire started at about 1 p.m.," Eko told The Jakarta Post over
the phone.

"The police are still investigating whether the four were
deliberately locked in by other people or whether the door had
been locked by the mother herself," he said.

He said there was no other people in the house at the time of
the fire.

The family's three maids -- Titan, 20, Mariana, 19 and
Sutarti, 25 -- were on the way to nearby Penjaringan market,
while Yenni's husband, Budiman Japit, was in the West Java
capital of Bandung on a business trip.

"Our preliminary investigation results show that some
witnesses mentioned that the fire started in the roof of the
room," he said.

"The fire was put out at 2.40 p.m. after two fire engines were
sent to the house," he added.

Friday's tragedy was the most recent in series of house fires
this year.

On Feb. 3, four housemaids died when fire gutted a house
belonging to Jonathan Chan, in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.
They were identified as Pinten, 17, Juminten, 20, Sri, 29 and
Rini, 23.

The victims were sleeping together in a room near the kitchen
when the fire began at about 11 p.m.

Local police confirmed that an electrical short circuit in the
kitchen was the cause of the incident.

On July 26 fire swept through Taman Sari subdistrict, Central
Jakarta, leaving 179 people homeless. (asa)