Fire hits Ambassador Mall, elsewhere

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Three fires hit Jakarta on Saturday but no fatalities were reported.

Fire broke out on the fourth floor of Mal Ambassador on Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio, South Jakarta, and panicked hundreds of shoppers and employees of the mall. The mall is located across from the JW Marriott Hotel, which was devastated by a deadly truck bomb on Aug. 5.

Eyewitnesses claimed that people started to run out of the five-story mall when flames began to spread from the Fiesta Steak restaurant at around 4:30 p.m.

Most people ran out to the relative safety of the street below. Many of the tenants closed down as smoke spread throughout the building.

Setiabudi police subprecinct chief First Ins. Suprianto said that Eri Susanto, the restaurant's assistant manager, denied that the fire came from his restaurant.

Twelve firetrucks were sent to the site but they were helpless as the hydrant was broken.

Earlier, at around 3 p.m. a large blaze burned down 12 houses and a wood processing factory on Jl. Jelambar Barat III, Jelambar Baru subdistrict, West Jakarta.

Fifteen workers at the factory, which belongs to prominent local businessman Hadi Hartono, tried to put out the fire but to no avail.

Eyewitnesses said that the fire started from a rented house and spread quickly to the factory and other houses. The cause of the fire was still unknown.

A total of 12 firetrucks were deployed to the site and the firemen managed to put out the fire in about one hour.

Fire also burned 16 houses in the area two days earlier. One man was injured after falling from a roof while trying to extinguish the fire.

Later, at around 7 p.m., 11 houses on Jl. Palmeriam in East Jakarta were burned by fire. Around 20 firefighters were deployed at the site and managed to put out the fire an hour later.

One of the firemen said that the cause of the fire was probably a short circuit in one of the houses.

The material losses from the three fires have not been calculated yet.