From the ruins: A victim of a collapsed building in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, is carried to an ambulance by search and rescue officials who have to work their way through a crowd on Wednesday. The toilet extension to the Metro wholesale center collapsed injuring 14 and killing three, mostly construction workers. JP/Nurhayati
A two-story structure that was part of a wholesale shopping center in Tanah Abang commercial center, Central Jakarta, collapsed Wednesday morning, killing three people and injuring at least 14 others.
The collapsed structure was part of an extension being constructed to add more toilets to the top four floors of the five-story building.
Setyarto Hartono, the building manager of Metro Tanah Abang wholesale center, said the structure collapsed at around 10:20 a.m.
“The collapsed building is located in the loading area, where trucks with heavy loads come and go,” he said during an interview with a local TV station.
“Perhaps vibrations from the trucks caused the building to collapse,” he speculated.
City building codes dictate that buildings have to be able to withstand strong earthquakes without collapsing. Vibrations from heavy traffic would not even register on the magnitude scale.
The collapsed building, he said, consisted of two floors covering 60 square meters each.
The building management started construction of the structure four months ago and had expected to finish by July next year.
The victims, most of them construction workers, were taken to St. Carolus Hospital, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Tarakan Hospital and Mintohardjo Marine Hospital, all in Central Jakarta.
The head of the Jakarta Building Supervision Agency (P2B) Hari Sasongko, who visited the scene, said the management of the building had built the additional structure without official building permits.
“Such a structure should have been demolished,” he said, not explaining why, since he knew the structure was illegal, construction was allowed.
Central Jakarta Mayor Sylviana Murni said her administration would sue the building developer.
Setyarto, however, insisted his company were in possession of all necessary permits.
“If we didn’t have a building permit, how could the construction have gone on for the past four months?” he said.
To enable rescue teams to evacuate the building and search for trapped victims, police had to close off Jl. KH Wahid Hasyim, where the building is located, and redirected traffic in Tanah Abang area, one of Southeast Asia’s largest commercial centers.
Large crowds gathered to see police evacuating the building and searching for trapped victims.
In the crowd, one woman was seen to be crying hysterically.
Aben, one of the construction workers, said the woman was shocked at what had transpired.
“Her father, husband and brother all worked on this construction site,” Aben said. “Her father was badly injured after he was trapped under the rubble. But we still don’t know what have happened to her husband and brother.”
As of Wednesday evening, the police said they had questioned five witnesses. “We have not named any suspects,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said. (mrs)
