TV Struck By Lightning, Residents' Houses In Cakung Burnt

PHOTO: IST

JAKARTA - Residents' settlement on Rawa Kuning Street, Palad Gang, RT 10/07, Pulogebang Village, Cakung District, East Jakarta, was burned down. The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit from a lightning strike.

"The cause was a lightning strike. Then there was an electrical short, due to a lightning strike on television," said Head of the Operations Section of the East Jakarta Gulkarmat Sub-dept., Gatot Sulaeman, to reporters, Wednesday, February 14.

A spark from a short circuit in an electric cable then grew and burned down a house belonging to a resident named Ida Nyoman Oka. Residents' 135-meter building was engulfed in flames in a matter of a few minutes.

The house is inhabited by a family head with 6 people. As a result of the fire, the owner is estimated to have suffered losses of up to IDR 200 million.

"We have deployed 12 fire engines with 48 personnel to the location. Currently, the fire has been extinguished," he said.