70-year-old man among victims of gas explosion in Tambora, West Jakarta

Jakarta (ANTARA) – An elderly man named Siah Chang Kuan was among the victims of a gas explosion inside a house on Jalan Tambora 2, No. 34 RT 01/RW 07 Tambora, West Jakarta (Jakbar), on Friday morning.

‘The victim, Mr. Siah Chang Kuan, aged 70, was taken to Tarakan Hospital,’ Tambora Sub-district head Pangestu Aji said when contacted in Jakarta on Friday.

As of now, he said, the condition of the victim remains unknown.

Aji explained that as a result of the explosion five people inside the house were injured. One of them, Siah Chang Kuan, sustained the most serious injuries and had to be taken to hospital.

‘The impact involved five people in one house. The victim who was most seriously injured is the family member, Siah Chang Kuan, aged 70,’ Aji said.

Preliminary suspicion is that the explosion was triggered by a gas cylinder regulator that was not sealed tightly when closed.

‘The seal wasn’t tight enough, so when it was turned on, the gas had already spread. (When there is) an electric current, it looked like an explosion, but it did not start a fire,’ Aji said.

He said the incident is now being handled by the West Jakarta Fire and Rescue Sub-Department (Gulkarmat).

Earlier, in a viral video post, the explosion caused damage to the house building.

The roof tiles in the gas cylinder room appeared to have collapsed. In addition, the house fence was almost collapsed due to the explosion.