Visiting the Jakarta Islamic Center, Acting Governor of DKI: The Cause of the Fire is Still Being Researched

The Jakarta Islamic Center Mosque dome caught fire

JAKARTA - Acting (Pj) Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono visited the location of the fire at the Jakarta Islamic Center Mosque, Koja, North Jakarta, which has now been extinguished.

Heru said that at this time the exact cause of the fire, which had been going on for about two hours, was not yet known.

"The cause is still being investigated. Later I will ask the Chief of the Police to investigate the cause", said Heru at the location, Wednesday, October 19.

Based on the information received, the fire occurred during renovation work on the dome of the mosque. However, the cause still needs to be investigated further.

"There was still work at that time, renovation, welding. But later the main cause is being investigated", said Heru.

The fire was carried out by 90 personnel with 21 fire engines. Currently, the officers are doing the cooling process.

The head of the DKI Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency, Satriadi Gunawan, said that at this time there were no reports of any injuries caused by the fire. He also admitted that he did not know for sure the estimated loss due to the fire.

What is clear, this fire caused the dome of the Jakarta Islamic Center to fall to the ground due to fire. "No other room was burned. Only the dome and its perimeter foundation fell", he said.

North Jakarta Metro Police Head of Intelligence, AKBP Slamet Wibisono, explained that the fire started when four workers from PT Agung Sentosa Pratama renovated the roof of the Islamic Center Mosque's Dome. At that time the renovation used triplex material.

“Witnesses melted the membrane (rolled asphalt) to attach the roofing material using fuel. It is suspected that the spark from the fuel device hit the glass bulb and caused a fire", said Slamet in his statement, Wednesday, October 19.

During the incident, the witness tried to extinguish the fire with a light fire extinguisher (Apar). However, the fire just got bigger.

"The witness tried to put out the fire using a fire extinguisher but the fire got bigger and finally the whole Dome of the Islamic Mosque caught fire", he said

After the incident, the witness immediately contacted the fire brigade for further action.