Fire In Klandasan Ulu East Kalimantan, 64 Victims Evacuated, Including 5 Toddlers

Illustration. Officers extinguish a land fire in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, in August 2019. (Antara-Nova W)

KALTIM - The joint SAR team evacuated fire victims in Klandasan Ulu Village, Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan (Kaltim). The evacuation was carried out to the tents of the Balikpapan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) in the courtyard of the At-Taqwa Mosque.

"There we can accommodate 30 families or a total of 64 people," said the Acting Head of Klandasan Ulu Village, Djogeh Harmana, quoted from Antara, Thursday, August 11.

They consisted of 38 men and 26 women, including six elderly people, five children under the age of five (toddlers) and nine students.

According to him, this is to make it easier for the community to determine the type of assistance they can provide so that the victims can take full advantage of it.

"Most of the families who have become refugees are residents of boarding houses or rented plots," he said.

He said that so far the refugees have received enough clothing donations. "We now expect more community assistance in the form of food or cash," said the Acting Head of Village Djogeh.

The refugee camp in the courtyard of the mosque also makes it easier for refugees to get clean water and the need for bathing, washing, and latrines because there are already available mosque toilets and bathrooms.

In addition to setting up tents for refugees, the Balikpapan City Government also set up tents for refugee aid posts.

The fire broke out on Tuesday, August 9 at noon. Currently, the police are still investigating the origin of the fire and are still processing the crime scene (TKP).