Vehicle documents gone with fire

BATAM: Fire razed the police station in Batam Rempang and Galang Police Headquarters on Wednesday morning, burning all records of driving licenses and other vehicle documents.

Head of the traffic unit, police commissioner Agus Santosa said the fire was caused by a short circuit in one of the air- conditioners in the office.

"The accident happened when the officers were out. Suddenly, a spark of fire came out of one of the air-conditioners. It happened so quick that we couldn't save driving license documents and other vehicle documents... we could only manage to save one computer," Agus said.

The fire was estimated to have caused Rp 150 million in losses. No casualties were reported in the 30-minute accident. After the fire, the office has temporarily suspended services to the public until further notice. -- JP