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)