Fire destroys Semarang City Hall

Agus Maryono and Haryoso, The Jakarta Post, Purwokerto, Semarang

Fire gutted the eighth and ninth floors of the Semarang City Hall on Jl. Pemuda on Sunday, destroying everything on the floors, but no fatalities were reported.

Semarang Mayoralty Police chief Sr. Comr. Halba Rubis Nugroho told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview on Monday that the cause of the fire had yet to be determined, although seven people have already been questioned in relation to the incident.

"The seven people, including two security guards, were all questioned as witnesses," Halba said, adding that none of them were arrested.

Halba estimated that the fire had caused losses totaling billions of rupiah.

The eighth floor had a well furnished meeting hall with an audio-visual system, and a fitness center. The ninth floor was used for storage.

All documents kept on the two floors were totally destroyed by the fire, which was extinguished at about 4 a.m on Sunday or more than three hours after the fire started raging.

Semarang Mayor Sukawi Sutarip said on Monday that his office would like the two floors repaired soon.

"We will have a meeting with the mayoralty legislative council regarding the building's repair," Sukawi said, adding that the money would be taken from the mayoralty budget and insurance compensation.

"We also expect aid from the provincial administration," he added.

Officer Halba said he could not speculate as to whether arson was behind the fire.

"The police forensic laboratory is still conducting examinations," he said.

However, Halba confirmed that two of the seven people questioned by the police were air-conditioning servicemen, who repaired the air-conditioners on both floors on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a cleaning serviceman, Anwar said that he was in the nine-story building on the night the fire occurred.

"At about 11 p.m. a meeting between religious leaders and officials on the first floor of the building finished. After cleaning the room I fell asleep on the first floor, before I was awakened by a commotion. Seconds later, I was aware of the fire on the two floors. I ran out of the building and screamed for help."

About 30 minutes later the fire engines arrived, he said.