Fire razes Kupang's biggest market

Fire razes Kupang's biggest market

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Fire razed the biggest traditional
market in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), on Monday. No casualties
were reported, but at least two people were seriously injured in
the blaze.

The fire started at around 1.30 p.m., burning down hundreds of
kiosks and shops in the Oeba market and more than 10 nearby
houses.

By 4 p.m. the fire was not yet extinguished, although five
fire trucks had been deployed to the scene.

The narrow roads leading into the market were blamed for the
difficulty in putting out the fire.

Police were investigating the cause of the blaze. However, it
was suspected that a short circuit in one of the razed kiosks had
started the fire.

Muhammad Kasim, a 30-year-old migrant trader from South
Sulawesi, whose clothing kiosk was burned to the ground, could
not say what had caused the fire.

"It happened so fast. I was serving customers when, suddenly,
people started shouting. Within minutes, all the kiosks and shops
were burned down," he said.

Kupang Mayor SK Lerik visited the scene and expressed concern
over the fire. He promised to provide the victims with
assistance, but declined to go into details.

In 2002 hundreds of kiosks in the same market were gutted by
fire after a stove exploded in one of the shops there. -- JP