Family spat ends in flames

BANDUNG (JP): An irate chicken vendor's daring decision to lock up her gambling husband in their kiosk to teach him a lesson ended in a fire that destroyed 200 kiosks in Sayati market early on Saturday.

A bitter quarrel between Fatimah, 50, and her husband ended in flames at 2 a.m. when the fire spread rapidly in the breeze, eyewitnesses said.

Angry at being treated like a child, the husband kicked over a stove which Fatimah was using to boil water. Flames from the flying stove engulfed the kiosk and eventually razed the market.

Fatimah, who was in another room in the kiosk, was trapped in the fire and died. The husband managed to flee but was apprehended by fellow traders who turned him over to the police.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control at about 6 a.m. They said 90 percent of the kiosks were made of wood and that they found it very difficult to extinguish the fire. (25)