Falling candle burns two rooms

JAKARTA: A candle that fell on a mattress caused a fire which burned two rooms of a house on Wednesday night.

Antara reported that the incident took place late at night in a densely-populated area on Jl. Mangga Besar IV, West Jakarta.

Twelve fire engines rushed to the site and within about an hour firefighters managed to extinguish the fire.

Hendra, the house owner, said the material losses reached more than Rp 65 million.

Even in a metropolitan city like Jakarta, not everybody has access to electricity. Many use kerosene lamps or candles -- which are often the cause of fires, especially in the slums. --JP