Fire razes 34 houses in Ancol

JAKARTA (JP): At least 34 houses in the urban villages of Walang and Lodan in Ancol, North Jakarta, were burned to the ground on Friday, causing estimated losses of hundreds of millions of rupiah.

The police are still investigating the cause of the fire, but an eyewitness said it originated from the burning of garbage, made up of a large number of cardboard boxes, by a wooden casemaker under the nearby Ancol flyover at about 1 p.m.

Eight fire trucks arriving at the location 30 minutes after the fire started managed to extinguish it out within an hour.

The witness told detik.com internet news service that a strong wind blew carried burning pieces of the boxes to the nearby densely populated residential area, thus starting the fire. (01)