College catches fire

College catches fire

SURABAYA : Fire swept through the three-story head office of the Surabaya Institute of Technology yesterday morning, causing the postponement of the swearing in of its new rector, Sugiono.

The fire gutted the building, which housed the departments of personnel, finance, academics, research and development and social function. All documents stored in the building, along with 50 computers, and other office equipment, were destroyed.

Rachmat Purwono, second assistant to the rector, was quoted by Antara as saying that the fire might have been ignited by a mosquito coil lighted by an employee who slept on the second floor.

Another official of the institute, Hadi Soetrisno, said that the fire, which caused an estimated loss of Rp 1.5 billion, was purely an accident and was not related to the scheduled installation of the new rector. (kod)