Fire guts blood transfusion unit

JAKARTA (JP): A fire gutted the Indonesian Red Cross' three- story blood transfusion unit in South Jakarta on late Monday.

No fatalities were reported in the fire on Jl. Haji Joe in Jagakarsa, but a source said that material losses could reach as high as US$2.75 billion because most of the equipment lost in the fire was purchased with US currency.

H.M. Muas, head of the office, said on Tuesday that the fire destroyed at least 250,000 imported blood transfusion bags and a number of costly machines used for blood transfusions.

"The fire has shocked all of us, but we will be ready to serve the public as soon as we cleanup the fire damage and salvage as much of our equipment as possible," Muas told The Jakarta Post.

The fire broke out in a first floor room, and was reported at around 11:15 p.m. by an unidentified passerby.

The building was inhabited by 14 students from various universities in Indonesia who were participating in a national training course.

"Thank God that none of the students were injured. They were all sleeping on the third floor and managed to safely escape," Muas said.

Muas said that the logistics room and the laboratory -- both on the first floor -- were the most severely hit by the fire.

In order to continue serving the public, the unit will be temporarily moved to the Red Cross' headquarters on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta. (emf)