Cause of 'TVRI' fire still unknown

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)