House Shophouse Fire In Tambora Kills 6 People, Deputy Governor Of DKI Suggests Living In Flats

A shop house that was used as a boarding house in the South Duri area, Tambora, West Jakarta, caught fire, Wednesday (17/8/2022). ANTARA/HO-West Jakarta City Government

JAKARTA - The Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta has responded to the fire incident for shop houses and boarding houses in Tambora, Central Jakarta, which killed six residents.

According to Riza, cases of fires like this are a consequence of the dense conditions of settlements in Jakarta. Therefore, Riza suggested that it is better for residents to live in flats, both rented and owned.

Moreover, the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, has just inaugurated 12 rental flats (rusunawa), some of which have just been built and which have been inhabited for the past few years.

"In Jakarta, there are still a lot of densely packed houses. One solution is to build these flats, part of the solution to reduce the density of the population who gather in dense housing," Riza told reporters, Thursday, August 18.

Regarding this fire case, Riza handed over the handling of the case to the police to investigate the cause of the incident. In addition, the DKI Provincial Government also plans to provide assistance to the victims.

"The Gulkarmat Service, as well as the police continue to check, investigate what is the cause and are being handled. We also handle victims and we provide assistance and find solutions," he said.

The fire at the shophouse which was used as a boarding house occurred on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, at around 06.36 WIB. The Tambora Police Sector, West Jakarta, said that the boarding house fire in Tambora was caused by a short circuit in the fan.

A short circuit in the object caused the fire to engulf the building, killing 6 occupants of the boarding house and injuring 3 residents.

"Because we have checked the owner of the room and left the boarding house at five in the morning. Then, he forgot to remove the fan. So, the fan was on," said the Tambora Police Chief, Commissioner Rosana Albertina Labobar.

He explained that because the electrical connection was still plugged into the socket, there was a short circuit in the electric current which caused a spark on the second floor of the boarding house.

Investigators from the Sector Police have also checked the location of the fire for a crime scene (TKP). During the crime scene, investigators found the electric plug on the fan which was still plugged into the socket.

To strengthen these findings, the police have examined nine witnesses, consisting of two boarding house owners, two burn victims and five boarding house occupants. In the future, it is possible for his party to examine other witnesses to reveal the main cause of the fire.