Dozens killed across the country during Idul Fitri holiday

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dozens of people across the country were killed and over 100 injured in traffic accidents and fires during the postfasting Idul Fitri celebration that began on Thursday.

The majority of the accidents were caused by careless drivers and unsafe vehicles, according to the authorities.

At least seven people died and 18 others were injured in two separate traffic accidents in West Sumatra on Saturday, including five people who were killed in an accident in the provincial capital of Padang.

"The accidents could have been avoided had the drivers checked the condition of their vehicles before taking them out onto the roads," the head of the Padang Police's traffic division, First Insp. Rico Junaldi, said.

In Semarang, Central Java, nine people were killed and 18 others were injured in separate traffic accidents on Friday and Saturday.

One motorist was killed in a crash in Bengkulu late on Friday, while one person died and six others were injured in a crash along the Cikampek highway in West Java on the same day.

The Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java, admitted 15 people from surrounding towns who were injured in separate traffic accidents.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, two people died and 40 others were injured in traffic accidents.

Meanwhile, fires spoiled the festive mood in Padang, Pekanbaru, Lampung, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Samarinda and Denpasar, leaving dozens of houses destroyed and causing billions of rupiah in material losses.

Fire swept through a motorcycle garage on Sunday morning in Denpasar's heavily populated area of Monang Maning, killing the owner's wife and their baby daughter and infant son.

The victims were identified as 35-year-old housewife Nengah Tabu, two-year-old Ni Luh Putu Sugiani and the couple's seven-day-old son.

Tabu's husband, 48-year-old Wayan Sentana, survived the blaze with burns to his legs, lower torso and hands. He is being treated at Wangaya hospital.

Fire also gutted four two-story shop-houses on Jl. Bandar Olo in Pasar Raya, Padang, causing material losses of about Rp 1 billion. No casualties were reported.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, a food warehouse and several residential houses on Jl. Sekolah burned down on Saturday but there were no casualties.

At least two houses and several boardinghouses were destroyed by fire on Friday in Bandar Lampung, Lampung, causing total losses of about Rp 100 million.

In Yogyakarta, a batik factory was in flames on Saturday, resulting in the destruction of 55,000 cloth-making machines.

And at least 100 houses on Jl. Tenggiri in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, were destroyed by fire on Saturday but there were no casualties.