Two Elderly Residents Die in Makassar House Fire, Suspected Caused by Candle

A fire broke out in a house in Sambung Jawa sub-district, Mamajang district, Makassar, South Sulawesi. Two residents were reported dead, suspected of being trapped in the flames.

“Yes, there are 2 (fatalities),” said Head of the Makassar Fire Department, Fadli Wellang, on Thursday (23/7) evening. Fadli stated that upon receiving the report, he immediately deployed 12 fire engines to extinguish the blaze. “We deployed the fleet. The cause is still under investigation, and two houses were burnt while one was affected,” he said.

One of the victims, Aidil Muslim (27), said the fire is suspected to have originated from a candle lit near the house entrance. However, Aidil admitted he did not know exactly how the fire grew. “Someone was burning a red candle. I had told them not to be superstitious, I gave a warning last week,” Aidil said.

Aidil recounted that the flames appeared suddenly after the sound of breaking glass was heard from inside the house. “I had already gone out, but before I left there was the sound of glass. After that it immediately caught fire. My wife screamed to tell me there was a fire,” he explained. According to Aidil, his wife briefly went back inside after seeing a chair on fire, while he tried to secure a motorbike parked in front of the house.

While outside, Aidil suddenly remembered that two elderly people were still inside. Without thinking, he tried to break through the flames to save them. “I said there were two elderly people inside. I went in, the fire was already spreading left and right. I pulled one, I tried to get them out, but the heat was tremendous. I forced my way in because I remembered there were still two people inside,” he said.

Aidil mentioned that at the time of the incident, there were about eight people inside the boarding house. Six managed to escape, while two residents were suspected to be trapped and were later found dead. “There were eight people inside. Two were trapped,” he said.

Mamajang Police Chief, AKP Tri Husada Wahyu Andromeda, stated that the cause of the fire is still being investigated. “It is still under investigation. The temporary suspicion is that it was caused by a candle. The two fatalities are both female. There is also someone who fainted and has not yet regained consciousness,” said Tri.