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)