20190810 Fire razes Goat Market in Tanah Abang, killing two
Indonesia Aug 10 2019 “Other”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire razes Goat Market in Tanah Abang, killing two
Updated: 2019–08–11
Firefighters attempt to put out a fire that engulfed Goat Market in Tanah Abang on Saturday night. Two were people killed in the fire. (tribunjakarta.com/Muhammad Rizki Hidayat)
A fire razed Goat Market in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, on Saturday evening, claiming two lives as the rest of the city celebrated the eve of Idul Adha.
Central Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency operational head Syarifudin said two people were killed as they tried to put out the fire.
“They went to a bathroom to extinguish the fire, but they became trapped there,” Syarifudin said as quoted by tempo.co.
The bathroom was located in a narrow corner of the building, so when the fire began to spread, they could not get out, he explained.
The fire and rescue team retrieved the bodies of the two victims at 11:15 p.m. The agency has yet to identify the bodies.
The flame started to spread around Goat Market at 7 p.m. The fire and rescue agency dispatched 24 fire engines to the scene. The fire was extinguished at 10:30 p.m.
Tanah Abang Police chief Sr. Comr. Lukman Cahyono said the incident was caused by a coconut-shredding machine that exploded in the market. The machine blew up when coconut vendors were refueling it with gasoline.
“The gasoline perhaps came into contact with a fire spark when [the vendors] were refueling the machine,” Lukman said.
He said the fire caused by the explosion quickly spread to a wooden ceiling, and later to the surrounding buildings and homes. Four houses near the market were also razed by the fire, he added. (rfa)
Web Source: The Nation