Mother and three children die in fire

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau

A wooden house on Jl. Jati in Senapelan subdistrict, Riau, burned to the ground on Monday, killing five of the family members, while two others survived but suffered from serious burns to their hands and face.

After discovering two jerricans with some remaining fuel near the site, the police started to investigate the case in the likelihood that certain people "may have intentionally set the house on fire".

"We (the police) have taken the jerricans as evidence for further investigation, and questioned a survivor named Kasno as a witness," Senapelan Police subprecinct chief Adj. Comr. Ade Sapari said.

The forty-two year old whom police are questioning as a witness is the head of the family. Kasno, along with his daughter named Supriyani, 11, survived the blaze. He is currently being treated at Pekanbaru General Hospital.

Kasno's wife, Nurhayati, 37, and three of his children -- Kamal Putra, 18, Trianto, 15, and Hamidah, 9, -- and a relative named Muslim, 25, died when the fire razed his wooden house at dawn on Monday.

None of his neighbors noticed when the fire started. A team of firefighters arrived 30 minutes later.

"All of us were asleep when the fire started. I tried to wake up all my family members, but they didn't get up. I could only save one of my daughters, Supriyani," a depressed Kasno told The Jakarta Post from his hospital bed.

Kasno suffered serious burns to his face and hands.

"Panicking, I carried my sleeping daughter out of the house that has already filled with smoke. I tried to go back inside and save the others, but I was unable to do so...it took only minutes for the fire to destroy my house," he recalled.