Fire destroys Semarang City Hall

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.