Mt. Slamet fire extinguished

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): The fire on Mt. Slamet, which started on Sunday, was totally extinguished on Monday night and about ten trekkers feared to be trapped in the fire were found unharmed, administrator of East Banyumas Forestry Office, Hasan Pamuji said here on Tuesday.

"My staff reported that the fire had only affected bushes, making it easy to extinguish."

The fire occurred in an area at about 3,000 meters above sea level, while the mountain is 3,418 meters in height. Mt. Slamet, located in the regency of Tegal, is the highest mountain in Central Java.

The fire started on a day when many people were hiking. As many as 130 police officers led by Banyumas Police chief Sr. Comr. Nata Kesuma, were among the trekkers.

Hasan confirmed that beside the police officers, other hikers included 50 students of local high school SMU Yos Sudarso, 20 trekkers from Jakarta and 10 unidentified hikers, who had rejected officer Nata's request to turn back on Sunday after the fire had started.

The ten were all safe.

According to Hasan, human negligence was behind Sunday's fire. He did not mention who was to blame.

"Those causing forest fires are subject to a fine of Rp 1.5 billion and five years imprisonment in accordance with Paragraph 78 Article 4 of Law No. 41/1999."

Fires ravaged the mountain in 1982 and 1995. No fatalities were reported, but more than 270 hectares of forest were destroyed in the fires.

In the 1995 fire, 22 people were trapped by the blaze. They were rescued 48 hours later. (45/sur)