Three killed in Pademangan blaze

JAKARTA (JP): Fire swept through 240 houses in the densely populated Pademangan Barat subdistrict of North Jakarta, killing three people, injuring 16 and leaving almost 2,000 more homeless.

A civilian guard from Pademangan subdistrict, Sofyan Santoso, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that the fire was believed to have started in a house owned by a man named Asiong soon after midnight on Saturday. He said it may have been caused by a short circuit.

He said two of the three victims, Amik, 17, and Ipan, 7, died in the fire, while the other, Abdul Kholik, died from a heart attack during the emergency.

The 16 injured, eight of whom are in serious condition, were taken to private hospital Husada in Mangga Dua, West Jakarta.

During the fire, a number of residents were reported to have run amok after firefighters arrived late.

Antara reported that angry residents attacked the firefighters, one of whom needed to be treated at the hospital for his injuries.

The nearly 2,000 people who lost their homes are being temporarily sheltered at the Pademangan Sport Center and the Pademangan subdistrict and district administration offices.

Sofyan said that the Indonesian Red Cross had constructed two temporary operations for providing food and medical treatment for the victims.

Ario of the Indonesian Red Cross noted that donations for the fire victims were starting to funnel in, although there seemed to be only enough for the next three days.

"We can only secure enough food for about 1,000 victims for three days. We hope other donations from the government and the public will soon come in," he said.

He said the Pademangan subdistrict and district administrations had sent donations to the fire victims. "But we expect more from the government and the public," he said, adding that he hoped that with the government's assistance fire victims could rebuild their homes.

Pademangan Barat Police chief Hendro Pandowo said they were unsure of the cause of fire. "We're still investigating," he said.

Meanwhile, fire also swept through a plastic manufacturing plant in Kamal subdistrict, North Jakarta on Saturday afternoon and two shop buildings in Minangkabau market, North Jakarta, early on Saturday, but no casualties had been reported.

Sukendar of the fire department in North Jakarta said that the cause of both fires was still unknown.

But he said the fire in the Kamal subdistrict was serious and 12 fire trucks were sent to the blaze.

"Firefighters are trying to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent residential area," he said, adding that the blaze had so far caused losses of about Rp 200 million (US$23,530). (bnt)