Fire hits Ambassador Mall, elsewhere
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.