MANADO - Polresta Manado continues to investigate the fire that hit the Panti Wreda Damai in Ranomuut Village, Paal two, Manado City, North Sulawesi (North Sulawesi). Until now, the police have examined at least 10 witnesses to uncover the exact cause of the tragedy that occurred in December 2025.
Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of Polresta Manado, AKP Elwin Kristanto, stated that based on the testimony of witnesses, there was an initial suspicion regarding the starting point of the fire. "From the results of the testimony of the witnesses we have examined, it is stated that so far the fire comes from the kitchen," said Elwin, Sunday, January 4.
Currently, the police have summoned various parties to provide information to compile the chronology of the incident in full. "For the witnesses we have asked for information, namely from the foundation, then there are several workers, and there are several survivors or survivors of the shelter, as well as neighbors around," he continued.
Although the initial suspicion had led to the kitchen area, the Manado Police did not want to speculate about the technical cause of the fire. Currently, investigators are still waiting for the official results of the identification from the Sulut Police Labfor.
"Regarding the fire incident at the Panti Werda, so far there have been 10 witnesses that we have asked for information. For the results of the cause, we are still waiting for the results from the Labfor field of the North Sulawesi Police," said Elwin.
The process of identifying the 16 victims who died was carried out gradually. Until now, only a small portion of the victims have been successfully identified and sent back to their families. "Of the total 16 victims, there have been four victims who have been successfully identified and have been handed over to their families," he said.
Meanwhile, for the other 12 victims, the medical and police teams are still encountering visual identification obstacles, so they have to undergo a more in-depth medical path. "For the other 12 victims, we are still waiting for the results of DNA tests from Puslabfor," concluded Elwin.
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