Gas shop fire kills two

JAKARTA (JP): A fire killed two employees and destroyed a liquefied petroleum gas station and a food stall in Jatiuwung, Tangerang.

Taufik, a firefighter of the Tangerang Fire Department, said the fire started at about 11:30 a.m at the station on Jl. Pandan Raya, in Jati Uwung.

"A gas tube exploding at the station caused the fire," Taufik said.

Two employees of the station, Dedi, 27, and Armen, 22, were trapped by the fire, he said.

Firefighters, helped by residents, tried to extinguish the fire which then spread to the food stall, he said.

He said the fire department deployed seven fire trucks and extinguished the fire in three hours.

The bodies of Dedi, a resident of Rembang, Central Java, and Armen, a resident of Jl. Pandan Raya, were still in Tangerang General Hospital's morgue for an autopsy, Tono, an official of the hospital, said.

He said the bodies of the two men were almost burned beyond recognition. (jun)