Mother and three children die in fire

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.