Cause of 'TVRI' fire still unknown

JAKARTA (JP): The police are still investigating the cause of the fire which destroyed a studio at the state-owned TVRI television station Monday.

Central Jakarta police chief Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna told reporters that the case was being handled by the National Police Forensic Laboratory.

"So far, we have not found any indication of sabotage," Iman said.

He also said that five people questioned about the incident had been released. "They were questioned as eyewitnesses."

Preliminary estimates put losses from the fire at more than Rp 15 billion.

Meanwhile, the head of the city's fire department, Suharso, deplored TVRI's failure to maintain its fire system and equipment in the building.

"TVRI did not care about its fire extinguisher systems. Most of the equipment, including the sprinklers, were not in good condition and they did not function properly during Sunday's fire," Suharso told reporters.

He also regretted that station employees failed to take the initiative in fighting the fire but instead chose to wait for firefighters to arrive.

"I don't know whether they have been trained on how to save themselves and valuables during a fire."

He said many companies did not pay sufficient attention to training their employees on how to maintain and use the fire system. (edt/cst)