Ciputat fire kills four

JAKARTA: A cooker exploded on Monday afternoon at a house on Jl. Cendrawasih, Ciputat, Tangerang, killing four people and severely injuring one person.

The victims were identified as Acih Mintarsih, 40 and two of her children, Asep, 20 and Irma, 17, as well as their carpenter neighbor Parno, who died on the spot. The injured man, Maman Rahman, 45, Acih's husband, was still being treated in hospital.

Maman's two other children, Ida, 19, and Surya, 9, escaped the incident as they were not in the house.

Ida insisted on staying at the bedside of her father who is being treated for serious burns across his entire body. She has not yet been informed that her mother and two siblings have passed away.

"We will tell her after she has calmed down," said Usmin, Ida's colleague. --JP