Fire leaves 7,500 homeless

Fire leaves 7,500 homeless

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: Fire gutted hundreds of
buildings in Pelambuan village, leaving about 7,500 people from
1,500 families homeless on Tuesday.

The fire broke out at 4:30 p.m, destroying two junior high
schools, one elementary school, two mosques and hundreds of
houses.

The narrow path leading to the fire was impeded with strong
winds which hampered fire fighters efforts to put out the blaze,
the biggest here since early this year. With the help of local
residents, the fire department managed to extinguish flames three
hours later.

There was no immediate report of casualties or material loss
in the fire. Police have yet to announce what caused the fire.
(edt)