Cilandak Marine Headquarters Bullet Warehouse Explodes: Police Chief's House Until Gus Dur Is Severely Damaged

The house that was destroyed was affected by an ammunition warehouse belonging to the Marine Corps in Cilandak, South Jakarta on October 29, 1984. (Kompas article)

JAKARTA - The impact of the explosion of a bullet warehouse cannot be underestimated. Take for example when the Cilandak Marine Corps Bullet Warehouse exploded in South Jakarta in 1984. The area around the bullet warehouses from Cilandak, Jagakarsa, and Lenteng Agung was made uneasy.

The explosion made a variety of active ammunition fly and forced thousands of people to flee. Those whose houses were damaged by the effects of the explosion were not small. In fact, some of them are big names such as the National Police Chief, Anton Soedjarwo to Gus Dur.

Bad luck has never been imprinted on the calendar. Bad luck matters can come at any time and anywhere. That's what happened to the Cilandak Marine Corps on October 29, 1984. The marine members who took part in the night guard were panicked by the appearance of smoke from the bullet warehouse.

Insiatif diambil. Upaya memadamkan api dilakukan dengan baik dan berhasil. Namun, keberhasilan itu berdurasi singkat. Letupan-upupan seperti ledakan pemerangan mulai terdengar. Khalayak umum mulai merasakan adanya ledakan sekitar pukul 20:00.

At first the explosion was not big, there was no time to panic the surrounding environment. Later there was also a follow-up explosion that started to make the Badminton stand up. Instead of just the sound of the explosion booming, the impact of the explosion was no less great.

The explosion was able to make the building vibrate. Many house windows until the office broke. People began to panic to keep their own safety. The greatness of the explosion of the bullet warehouse was reasonable. The Cilandak Marine Corps has six bullet warehouses. The contents of the warehouse are varied. Among other things, bombs, bullets, grenades, and mines.

This condition affected the area around marine complexes such as Cilandak, Jagakarsa, and Lenteng Agung. Panic was also present at Fatmawati Hospital. The entire hospital was excited. Active ammunition flying about several buildings.

Health workers continue to struggle to save patients and evacuate. Even though some of the patients died of a heart attack. The panic conditions in the area near the bullet warehouse are not much different.

The flying ammunition forced thousands of people to flee. The option was taken because the choice to evacuate was the most reasonable. All of this is because terror from randomized active ammunition can make lives lost.

The explosion of a bullet and airshed warehouse in Cilandak, South Jakarta woke the population and moved them to become refugees who left their hometowns, written in the book Opening Cakrawala: 25 years of Indonesia and the World in the title Kompas (1990).

The impact of the explosion of the bullet warehouse was no joke. Dozens of people died. Thousands of survivors were forced to flee. All because the house that became the point of family life in the category was damaged and some active ammunition was still milling around.

The victims whose houses were damaged did not recognize their status. They are ordinary citizens to public celebrities who did not escape being beaten by stray ammunition. Chicha Koeswoyo and Rinto Harahap became victims. Chicha's house almost collapsed and was hit by bullets from the explosion. While Rinto's house was terrorized by 12 mortar bullets.

This condition brought panic. Moreover, the house of the number one person in the police, Anton Soedjarwo in Jagakarsa, was also hit by a bullet. Anton is like unlucky. His favorite birds became victims of stray bullets. The whole house panicked, not playing.

No less panic also emerged from the figure of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur). His house on Jalan Kutilang, Cilandak was badly damaged. All because three rocket-type bullets rained down on his house.

Cilandak Marine Corps. (kemhan.go.id)

The only thing to be grateful for from the explosion of the bullet warehouse was that there were no casualties from Gus Dur's family. The narrative was that the whole house was leaving. Gus Dur also surrendered to his house which was badly damaged.

He took the initiative to evacuate to his family's house for a while. When conditions are relatively safe and the house is repaired, they will return. The DKI Jakarta government and the TNI also feel responsible for the disasters resulting from the explosion of the bullet warehouse.

Responsibility was also taken. Anyone whose house was damaged by being hit by a bullet will be repaired for free. The scattered active ammunition began to be brought under control one by one.

The rocket-type bullet also fell at the house of a young NU figure, Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), on Jalan Kutilang, Cilandak. The house was hit by three bullets. Eternit, critical, door, and skeleton of the house were broken. During the night of the explosion, Cak Dur and his wife were waiting for one of their children who were being treated at the RSCM.

"Until Sunday, his family was still riding at his parents' house in Kebayoran Baru. My status is now a refugee, looking for new citizenship," said Gus Dur jokingly as quoted by Tempo magazine in his article entitled The Cilandak Explosion (1984).