Dozens of houses gutted by fire

TANGERANG, West Java (JP): Dozens of makeshift houses built on a plot of state-owned land at Karawaci Bedeng, in the Karawaci sub-district, were reduced to ashes when a fire tore through the site yesterday.

The fire occurred while several residents were demolishing their houses in compliance with the local administration's instruction that all buildings there be pulled down because the land was state-owned.

The residents who voluntarily demolished their houses were already getting compensation from the administration.

The fire's cause is not yet known but it is thought to have started from smoldering building ruins scattered around the area.

It took fire fighters about two hours to put out the blaze.

Material losses have not yet been calculated. (28/bas)