Bogor fire shocks families, destroys wedding plans
Bogor fire shocks families, destroys wedding plans
By Maria Andi and Ahmad Junaidi
BOGOR, West Java (JP): Frantic relatives have besieged the Red Cross hospital for news of missing relatives feared to have perished in fires since last Saturday.
After the 29 passengers were burned alive in a Kramatdjati bus, last Saturday, the hospital was shaken Thursday and yesterday with another round of fearful enquiries concerning the 76 bodies dragged out of the debris of the Kebon Kembang market, which was swept by fire on Thursday.
"This week has the toughest period ever for us," a senior doctor, who refused to be named said.
The hospital team is now facing the daunting task of having to identify the people, mostly Ramayana Department Store employees, who were burned beyond recognition in Thursday's blaze.
Because no more than ashes remain of some of the fire victims, distraught relatives have been haunting the corridors of the hospital around the morgue since Thursday in hopes of some concrete information concerning the fate of their loved ones.
"My daughter has not come home yet, Doctor, I am not sure she survived the fire," a father told Dr. Budi Sampurna, a hospital pathologist, at the morgue.
"Do you remember any of the jewelry your daughter was wearing when she left home, or do you remember the condition of her teeth?" Budi asked the man, who was seeking her daughter, Elia, 22.
"Although many of the victims were burned to ash, we have been able to identify some of them through the jewelry they were wearing, or their teeth," he said.
The doctor then showed him the body of a woman with earrings, but the man could not be sure the remains were those of his daughter.
"Let's wait for my wife. She knows the jewelry Elia was in the habit of wearing better that I do," he said.
So far six victims have been identified. One of them was the body of Yosi Anggraini, who was identified by her brother, Ramsul.
He said he checked at the Salak hospital in Bogor where eight Ramayana employees were treated for burn injuries on Thursday. Some of them told him they saw Yosi trying to escape from the fire.
"Another friend told me Yosi failed to escape," Ramsul told The Jakarta Post at the Red Cross Hospital yesterday. "I could easily identify her body because of her red wristwatch, and the earrings and necklace she was wearing."
Wedding plans
The fire, which destroyed the three-story Kebon Kembang market Bogor, also destroyed Djadjang's plan to watch his daughter be married in August.
Djadjang, 56, said that his daughter, Partini was to marry her boyfriend, Muhaimin, in August.
"She and Muhaimin planned to go to her grandmother's home in Central Java next week to tell her of their plans," Djadjang told the Post.
"Muhaimin burst into tears when I told him that Partini has yet to come home since the fire," Djadjang said.
Djadjang, a resident of Jl. Kantin, Pabaton subdistrict, Bogor, said his family and Muhaimin's family had already met to discuss the wedding plans.
Djadjang, who also has three sons, said that he was surprised when he knew Partini woke up at 4 a.m. on Thursday. Partini usually woke up at 5 a.m. every day.
He said Partini left home at 5:15 a.m. after saying her morning prayer. He said his 23-year-old daughter usually came home at 8 a.m. and then returned to the department store at 1:00 p.m. daily.
"Partini usually comes home to have lunch, but not this Thursday," Partini's mother, Naila, said.
Djadjang said he could remember Partini's earrings. "But I would not recognize her body," he said, adding that he had been seeking his daughter in all of the hospitals in Bogor.
"I give up. I don't have any hope that Partini is still alive. Only God knows," he said before Partini's body was identified last night.
There are still many parents sitting in mute in despair at the morgue, hoping to find out what happened to their missing children.