Fire guts seven houses

JAKARTA: Fire destroyed seven houses in Jl. Darma Putra, Kampung Duku village, Kebayoran Lama Selatan subdistrict, close to the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) housing complex late on Thursday. No fatalities were reported.

"No one could save anything from the burned houses," said Koes, one of the residents.

He said that the fire was first seen from the house belonging to a woman named Tata.

Firemen put out the fire about 30 minutes later.

Residents believed the fire started from the explosion of a malfunctioning stove at Tata's house, but an official from the South Jakarta fire agency blamed it on an electrical short circuit. -- Antara