Hundreds of kiosks at Senen market gutted by fire

Two firefighters (photo left) try hard to put out a large fire at Senen market, Central Jakarta.

The fire destroyed almost all of the 500 semi-permanent kiosks in the electronics center at Block IV of Senen market, late on Sunday afternoon.

There were no reports of casualties or fatalities in the fire.

A spokesman of Central Jakarta fire department, Salman, said 22 fire engines from all municipalities were deployed to put out the fire. As of 9 p.m. on Sunday flames from the fire could still be observed.

Witnesses said the fire broke out at 6:45 p.m. The police have yet to discover the cause of the fire and guarded the complex to avoid looters.

However, kiosk owners suspected arson because the rental term of the area had expired in December and they had been asked to move to the second floor of Block V nearby because block IV would be replaced by a new building.

One of the kiosk owners, Rina, claimed to be the last person to leave the area at around 6 p.m. She had smelled gasoline fumes from the middle of the area.

The shopping complex is usually closed to visitors at around 5 p.m. every day. When closed, the gate is usually locked, while the electrical power is turned off.

The area is close to Senen bus terminal and has only one exit, which hindered the firemen in their efforts to put out the fire from the other side of the site.

Jakarta is said to be vulnerable to fires due to its poor fire awareness and city planning. During the last three weeks alone, at least 52 fires were reported, mostly in slum areas, which killed at least 12 people. -- JP