Procon Indah declares force majeure at JSX building
Procon Indah declares force majeure at JSX building
JAKARTA (JP): PT Procon Indah, the property company which
manages the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building, disclaimed on
Thursday any responsibility for the deaths, injuries and damage
caused by the blast in the building's underground parking lot on
Wednesday.
Procon Indah employee Carrey Alam expressed regret at the
incident, but stressed that the explosion was beyond the
company's control.
"It was a force majeure. We could not have anticipated that
somebody would bring a bomb into the building.
"We installed all the security equipment needed to secure the
entire building, but we cannot detect what people bring into the
parking lot inside their cars," Carrey said.
There was confusion as to the number of deaths from the blast,
with police insisting 15 people had been killed, although the
police and hospitals only were able to supply the names of 10
victims.
Most of the fatalities were drivers of companies with offices
in the building or private drivers whose employers were visiting
the building.
Many of those killed and injured were inside the drivers'
waiting room on the second level of the underground parking lot
when the bomb exploded.
Two of the companies whose drivers died in the blast, PT Miwon
Indonesia and PT Maxus Oil Company, promised to bear the costs of
the funerals for their employees and all hospital costs for their
employees who were injured.
American-based Maxus said one of its drivers, 40-year-old
Widodo Chandra, was killed and 11 others injured in the blast.
Many of Widodo's colleagues spent the night at Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital's morgue to console his grieving
family before helping them take his remains home.
An employee at Miwon said its driver, 45-year-old Munawir,
was killed in the explosion.
Four other drivers among the victims were identified as
Rubiman (55), Nawawi (49), Satim (43) and Gunarso (41).
The other victims were identified as Kokong Jaya, a 22-year-
old student at Trisakti University, Marsidi, 35, the owner of a
computer store at Mangga Dua Trade Center, Irmansyah, 40, a
government employee, and Nana Husni, 52, a security officer at
the JSX building.
Most died of smoke inhalation. By Thursday afternoon, their
bodies had been claimed from the morgue by their relatives.
The previous night, there were heart-wrenching scenes in the
hospital morgue as anxious people rushed to look for their loved
ones. Many broke into tears when they identified family members
among the dead.
"I don't know what to say. Please, this is terrible," said
Widodo Chandra's brother, who said he could barely look at the
remains of his brother.
Koyong Jaya, the brother of Kokong, said his brother got
married eight months ago.
Koyong held the white sheet covering his brother, saying he
did not want anyone to look at the body. "I won't let anyone see
his body and I won't let the doctors examine him."
Rubiman's wife sat silently in the corner of the room,
pondering the loss of her husband and how she would care for
their four young children alone. (dja)