Blaze kills 41 in overcrowded prison block in Indonesia
TANGERANG A fire killed 41 inmates in an overcrowded prison block in Indonesia's Banten province yesterday, a government minister said.
The fire, the country's most deadly since 47 perished in a fireworks factory disaster in 2017, broke out at 1.45am in a Tangerang Prison block, said Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, after visiting the scene.
"We are working together with relevant authorities to look into the causes of the fire and of course formulating prevention strategies so that severe catastrophes like this won't happen again," the minister said.
He added that two of the dead were foreign nationals, one each from South Africa and Portugal, and confirmed the prison was operating at overcapacity when the fire broke out.
Cells were locked at the time, the minister said, but with the fire raging uncontrollably, "some rooms couldn't be opened".
Earlier yesterday, Ms Rika Aprianti, a spokesman for the ministry's prison department, said 122 people were being detained on drug- related offences in a block built to hold 38. She said all 41 fatalities were inmates, adding authorities were still evacuating the facility as of 9am.
Dr. Hilwani from Tangerang General Hospital told Reuters that some of the bodies had been so badly burned they were unidentifiable.
A Jakarta police spokesman said the initial suspicion behind the cause is an "electrical short circuit."
The wiring had not been upgraded since the 1970s when the prison was built. - REUTERS
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