Mosque tower collapses, kills four in N. Jakara

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least four construction workers were killed and 21 others seriously injured when a 50-meter tower of Baiturrahman Mosque on Jl. Haji Murtadho in Tugu Utara, Koja, North Jakarta collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.

The four victims were Wartam, Wardoyo, Suripto and one more who is still being identified. Their bodies were sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta, while seven injured workers were taken to nearby Koja hospital and others to Tugu Pelabuhan hospital.

"We are still evacuating the victims as we fear that there are still many more workers injured in the accident," Koja Police subprecinct chief Comr. Eko Syaputro said.

Using heavy duty trucks, officers from the Jakarta Police and Jakarta Fire Department removed the debris in order to search for other survivors.

There were a total of 35 workers at the site when the tower collapsed. Eleven of them were still in the tower when it went down.

Workers were renovating the Baiturrahman Mosque, which belongs to the Nurul Hidayah Al-Bahar Foundation, also located on Jl. Haji Murtadho in Tugu Utara, Koja, North Jakarta.

Rescue workers found it difficult to evacuate the victims as the vast mosque is situated on a narrow street in a densely populated area.

The incident attracted a huge crowd from the neighborhood.

North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Dede Suryana said police were quizzing a foreman named Warno and several eyewitnesses.

"If necessary, we will summon members of the foundation that owns the mosque for questioning," Dede was quoted as saying by Detik.com.

The foundation also owns an orphanage and Islamic playgroup Titipan Illahi, which are all situated in the same compound.

Police sense something untoward in the renovation of the tower since the North Jakarta municipality had issued an instruction to suspend the renovation project on Jan. 9 this year as the foundation had not obtained a building permit for the 6,000- square-meter mosque.

The foundation seemed to have ignored it and gone ahead with the renovation.

North Jakarta Mayor Effendy Anas said that the foundation was in a legal tussle over the ownership of the land with city-run PT Taman Impian Jaya Ancol that runs the Ancol Dreamland Park.

"The court and high court have favored the foundation in the ownership of the land. However, the legal process is still dragging on as PT TIJA has appealed," Effendy said.

He said his administration would form an independent team to seek the information needed for police investigators to uncover the cause of the fatal accident.