House torched as owner travels

JAKARTA: A fire razed a house on Jl. Kejayaan Dalam No. 7, Krukut in Taman Sari district, West Jakarta, early on Thursday morning while its owner was away on holiday.

Neighbors said the owner, Umar Ahmad, 50, was celebrating Idul Fitri out of town with all of his family members.

Preliminary indications showed that the fire may have been caused by an electric tea-maker which was apparently left on since Monday, when the family left.

Elsewhere, on Wednesday evening, a pickup truck caught on fire while parked near the Kramat Jati market in East Jakarta.

Hery, 25, the pickup driver, was repairing the car when the flame of his candle he was using to shed some light under the hood ignited the gasoline spillover. The spark suddenly became a raging flame as it reached the pickup's fuel tank. Hery managed to escape the fire. --JP