Building Burns, 500 Elementary School Students In Pekanbaru Forced To Study To 3 Other Schools

The fire when it hit SDN 83 Pekanbaru City on Tuesday night (17/10/2023) caused 8 classrooms to catch fire. (ANTARA/Screenshot)

RIAU - Hundreds of State Elementary School (SD) students in 83 Pekanbaru City, Riau Province, boarded the teaching and learning process to three nearby schools after their school building caught fire on Tuesday night. Head of Pekanbaru City Education Office Abdul Jamal said around 500 students were taken to the three closest elementary schools. They follow the teaching and learning process until the 83 public elementary school building can be occupied again. "So, while we are taking it to SD 29 and 67. Near Harapan Raya Health Center, there are three elementary schools. While there first, tomorrow they will start studying," said Abdul Jama in Pekanbaru, Antara, Wednesday, October 18. Hundreds of students of SD Negeri 83 will follow the teaching and learning process from noon to evening. In the fire incident on Jalan Pontianak, Bukit Raya District, eight classrooms caught fire. The fire is thought to have originated from a power cable outside the school. The fire spread to the tree and grabbed the school building. "So, the students entered the afternoon. The worst thing was two classrooms, the other six rooms were just roofs and ceilings burned," he said. One resident, Auzal, said that the fire began with the sound of an explosion in one of the rooms and the fire began to appear. "The flow of fire from the end of the room, then spread to other rooms and began to grow," he said.

Auzul explained that the fire car arrived about 30 minutes later, and the fire was successfully extinguished at 02.00 WIB. There were seven fire engines and one water cannon car and there were no casualties in the fire.