TANGGERANG, GESAHKITA COM–A fire tore through an overcrowded Indonesian prison in the early hours (After Mid-night) of Wednesday when most inmates were asleep, killing 41 people and injuring 80’s of others, an official said.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze—which was mostly contained within one block that housed prisoners jailed on drug charges—at around 3 am (2000 GMT Tuesday) and evacuated the victims.
A video released by the Justice Ministry office showed the ceiling collapsing as the fire tore through the block. “Forty died on the scene and one died on his way to the hospital,” said Yasonna Laoly, Indonesia’s justice minister, adding that eight were seriously hurt and 31 sustained minor injuries.
Jakarta police chief Fadil Imran earlier told media that 72 had minor injuries.
The police said they are now working to identify the victims after receiving body bags from the rescue team.
“The team hopes that families will come forward to give data on the 41 people to help expedite the process,” National Police spokesman Rusdi Hartono said. Authorities were still investigating the cause of the incident at Tangerang Penitentiary, just outside the capital Jakarta, but suspected an electrical fault may have been to blame.
“Based on early observation, it is suspected (the fire) happened because of a short circuit,” Imran said. Laoly said the prison’s electrical system had not been upgraded since it was built over 40 years ago, in 1972.
“The fire spread quickly and there was no time to open some cells… When the guards found out, the fire had already spread, and that’s where we found the victims,” Laoly added.
Laoly confirmed that there were two foreign nationals, a South African and a Portuguese, among the dead, but did not elaborate on their convictions.(*)
(Red)
