How Rain Cause Buildings In Palmerah To Collapse

Search and Rescue Task in the collapsed Palmerah building (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The cause of the collapse of a four-story building in the Palmerah area, West Jakarta, is still a mystery. However, from the results of an interim investigation, one of the factors suspected of causing the collapse of the building was due to weathering.

Operational Director of the National SAR Agency (Basarnas), Brigadier General Budi Purnama, said that based on a search in several parts of the building, there was no water drain on the top floor or the rooftop. So, every time it rains there will be puddles.

The puddle was absorbed by the walls of the building. Until time passes and it continues to happen over and over again, the building is experiencing weathering. The sudden incident left three injured.

"(When) this is the rainy season, it (the walls) absorbs too much water. There is no drainage per floor," Budi said in Jakarta, Monday, January 6.

Top view of a collapsed building in Palmerah (Ikbal Zulaikha / VOI)

Meanwhile, an officer of the Basarnas Rescue Team, Rivan, said that the absence of a water drain on the upper floor has caused seepage in the ceiling. In fact, if the rain continues to fall, it is likely that further collapse will occur.

"The building itself is not safe, because in the upper shop there is a pool of water, so there is no access to the water itself," said Rivan, adding that there was water seepage in the building.

"Furthermore, the position of the walls of the building itself has suffered from excessive water absorption, so for the 4th and 3rd floor of the average ceiling, water seepage has occurred," he added.

Previously it was reported that a four-story building located on Jalan Brigjen Katamso, Palmerah, West Jakarta, collapsed without clear reasons. The incident occurred at 09.10 WIB.

As a result of the incident, three people became victims. Two of them who were online motorcycle taxi drivers experienced fractures in their arms and legs. Meanwhile, another one only suffered minor injuries.