Vice President: Government Identification Of The Impact Of National Museum Fires

Indonesian Ambassador to China and Mongolia Djauhari Oratmangun, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and Spokesperson for Vice President Masduki Baidlowi (left to right) at a press conference in Shanghai, China, Tuesday (19/9/2023) (PHOTO ANTARA/Desca Lidya Natalia)

Vice President (Vice President) Ma'ruf Amin said the government is currently identifying the impact of the National Museum fire.

"In the future, the top priority of the National Museum of Indonesia and the Public Service Agency of the Cultural Heritage Museum is now identifying and repairing the affected museum rooms and ensuring their safety," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin in Shanghai, China, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, September 19.

A fire hit the National Museum or also known as the Elephant Museum on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta on Saturday (16/9) night.

The flames were seen appearing at the back of the National Museum and caused the roof and walls of the back of the building to collapse.

"So now we are rearranging again and to make it safe. We will see where the source of the fire is. Therefore, security is being arranged again," said the Vice President.

The vice president received information that the Indonesian National Museum was on fire but was under control.

"The collection of repatriation results from the Netherlands was not affected, safe, in locations far from the fire center," added the Vice President.

Previously, the Acting Head of the Public Service Agency for the Museum and Cultural Heritage Ahmad Mahendra said that a number of collections at the Indonesian National Museum after being affected by the building fire were still intact.

Mahendra said the identification team, which was formed by the curator and conservator, was working to collect data on the affected cultural heritage collection.

In addition, the evacuation process will soon be carried out in five burning rooms whose permits have been allowed from the National Police Headquarters Laboratory.

For the evacuation process, the Indonesian National Museum has prepared a special room to evacuate a number of affected collections from the burning room.

To date, a total of 16 witnesses have been summoned by the police for the agenda of examining the cause of the A building fire from the National Museum complex.

The chronology of the fire began when security officers were carrying out an apple. Not long after at around 19:58 WIB, there was a fairly loud explosion from the direction of the team working on the National Museum renovation project.

The National Museum of the Republic of Indonesia or the Elephant Museum, is an archaeological museum, history, ethnography, and geography located in Gambir, Central Jakarta and to be precise on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat No. 12. This museum is the first and largest museum in Indonesia.

The museum operates every day except for religious holidays from 08.00 to 16.00 WIB.