Fire destroys shop-house, kills 13
Fire destroys shop-house, kills 13
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): Thirteen people died when a
fierce fire destroyed a shop-house selling electronic goods here
on Thursday.
Police records say that four under-five-year-old toddlers and
a pregnant woman were among the fatalities.
Makassar Police chief Sr. Supt. Aryanto Boedihardjo said the
fire, the worst in the city in terms of fatalities, started at 5
a.m. local time on the second floor of the three-story building.
He said three families and two shop assistants lived in the
shop-house.
"There were no survivors. Most of the victims suffocated,
while two of them died after jumping from the third floor," he
said.
Firefighters said they found it difficult to put out the fire
as the building had no emergency stairs and all windows had iron
bars.
"We could not get into the building and we found no opening in
the wall through which to aim the water hose," a firefighter
said.
"Police Mobile Brigade officers came and broke the wall to
give us access to the building."
Three fire trucks were deployed and the fire was totally under
control after two hours.
"We found no signs of arson. We are going to investigate
further," Aryanto said to The Jakarta Post.
Makassar Mayor Amiruddin Maula said the building owner had
been negligent not to construct an emergency stairway.
He said that most of the windows of shops and shop-houses in
the city had iron bars to prevent vandalism. "Most of shop-house
owners are Chinese-Indonesians. They were targets of rioting,
therefore they installed iron bars on the windows of their homes
and shops," the mayor said. "I call on building owners not to
install iron bars, and construct emergency stairs." (27/sur)
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): Thirteen people died when a
fierce fire destroyed a shop-house selling electronic goods here
on Thursday.
Police records say that four under-five-year-old toddlers and
a pregnant woman were among the fatalities.
Makassar Police chief Sr. Supt. Aryanto Boedihardjo said the
fire, the worst in the city in terms of fatalities, started at 5
a.m. local time on the second floor of the three-story building.
He said three families and two shop assistants lived in the
shop-house.
"There were no survivors. Most of the victims suffocated,
while two of them died after jumping from the third floor," he
said.
Firefighters said they found it difficult to put out the fire
as the building had no emergency stairs and all windows had iron
bars.
"We could not get into the building and we found no opening in
the wall through which to aim the water hose," a firefighter
said.
"Police Mobile Brigade officers came and broke the wall to
give us access to the building."
Three fire trucks were deployed and the fire was totally under
control after two hours.
"We found no signs of arson. We are going to investigate
further," Aryanto said to The Jakarta Post.
Makassar Mayor Amiruddin Maula said the building owner had
been negligent not to construct an emergency stairway.
He said that most of the windows of shops and shop-houses in
the city had iron bars to prevent vandalism. "Most of shop-house
owners are Chinese-Indonesians. They were targets of rioting,
therefore they installed iron bars on the windows of their homes
and shops," the mayor said. "I call on building owners not to
install iron bars, and construct emergency stairs." (27/sur)