Ailing housewife dies in fire

JAKARTA (JP): A 42-year-old housewife burned to death in yesterday afternoon's fire in the Binong Permai housing complex in Curug subdistrict in Tangerang.

Neighborhood chief Bambang Sugiarto said locals failed to rescue Elmiyati Sarkawi, mother of three, when the fire intensified after they broke the window panes to enter her house.

Bambang said that Elmiyati was ill and was lying down when the fire broke out.

Her husband, Faisal Munir, was selling goods at Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta while two of their three children were in school. The other child was at a neighbor's house, said Bambang.

According to Bambang, the fire broke out at 11:15 a.m. and may have been caused by a burning mosquito coil setting alight a bedsheet in Elmiyati's house.

With the help of neighbors and a fire department unit, the fire was put out two hours later. A neighboring house was also burned.

Curug police are still collecting evidence and information to find out the exact cause of the fire.

The body of Elmiyati was immediately taken to the Tangerang General Hospital for a postmortem examination. (41/bsr)