Woman In Kapuas Hulu Dies While Burning Land

PONTIANAK - A woman named Damiana Sumiati (37) died of fire while burning agricultural land in Badau District on the Indonesia-Malaysia border, Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan.

"When burning the fields suddenly there was a strong wind and the victim was trapped in the burning ground unable to escape, so the victim fainted and caught fire on the land," said Head of the Kapuas Hulu Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Gunawan, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, August 18.

From the report received by BPBD Kapuas Hulu, the incident occurred Friday (18/8) at around 15:10 WIB, in Badau District, Kapuas Hulu.

While burning the field, suddenly there was a strong wind and caused the fire to spread towards the victim.

When the fire grew, the victim was still in the burning land when the fire quickly grew so that the victim was trapped in the burning land and could not escape, so the victim fainted and caught fire on the land.

"We are very concerned and sorry for the disaster, we will go down to the scene," said Gunawan.

The incident of fatalities due to the burning of traditional agricultural land is the first time this has happened in Kapuas Hulu.

The incident, he said, was a lesson that land fires could cause casualties.

BPBD Kapuas Hulu will continue to provide understanding and remind the public and provide education related to traditional land clearing procedures according to applicable regulations.

He said that if people want to burn fields, they must report to the village and sub-district, so that the task force in the sub-district and village can help the process of burning land that refers to the regent's regulation.

"If the burning of the land is reported to the village and sub-district, of course it will be assisted to prevent unwanted incidents and officers can carry out countermeasures," said Gunawan.

Limited land clearing by burning has been regulated in West Kalimantan Governor Regulation which is followed up with Kapuas Hulu Regent Regulation number 51 of 2020 concerning procedures for clearing agricultural land based on local wisdom.

"The Perbup has often been socialized to the public, because in the perbup there are procedures for land clearing based on local wisdom, including reporting formats from the sub-district village to district levels," explained Gunawan.