Smoke from short circuit causes stir at Senayan City

JAKARTA: A malfunctioning cooking device at a restaurant in Senayan City sent up a cloud of black smoke, causing some shoppers to flee the South Jakarta mall on Sunday.

Head of security and services Aslan S. said the smoke came from restaurant Spageddies on the fourth floor of the building.

"The smoke appeared after a fan in the kitchen burned out. The restaurant employees extinguished the fire by themselves," he told tempointeraktif.com.

The mall's management said it did not know what caused the incident.

"We are still investigating," Aslan, Central Jakarta Police chief said, adding that there were no fatalities in the incident.

However, many people, mostly restaurant employees, panicked upon seeing the billowing smoke, and fled the building.

Conditions returned to normal 30 minutes later after authorities announced they had the situation under control. The incident was the second of a fire breaking out in a mall this month.

Last Friday, Solaria restaurant in Pondok Indah Square was destroyed by a fire ignited by a short circuit. - JP