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fire gutted a shop in Sungguminasa, Gowa regency, South Sulawesi, early on Tuesday, killing eight people, six of whom died from burn injuries while two died from inhaling toxic fumes.

The victims were the shop owner'€™s son, Ricky Zain Fong, 26, and seven female employees, namely Sanawiah, 36, Rusma, 22, Hasfira, 20, Ina, 15, Nurmi, 20, and siblings Haslina, 19 and Sasmita, 18.

According to Gowa Fire Department member Abdul Rahim, firefighters found Ricky'€™s intact body on the first floor, while the seven remaining victims were found separately on the second floor of the shop.

'€œWe found two bodies hugging each other in a bathroom,'€ said Rahim.

The bodies were recovered after the fire was brought under control at 5:30 a.m. local time and were immediately taken to Syekh Yusuf General Hospital in Gowa.

At Tuesday noon, members of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit at the South Sulawesi Police headquarters identified seven of the victims and handed their bodies over to their relatives for burial. Most of them hailed from outside Gowa regency.

Another eight people suffered fractures they sustained when fleeing the flames. Some of them leaped from the second floor of the building, while others ran through the flames.

Shop owner Muhammad Zain Fong, 45, his wife and other two children were among the eight injured victims, while the others were his niece and nephew and two nannies. They are currently being treated at Grestelina Hospital in Makassar.

Based on information gathered at the scene on Tuesday, the fire broke out on the first floor of the shop, which comprised four shop-houses. The fire quickly spread to the second floor where electronic goods and furniture were sold.

'€œI first saw thick smoke coming from the first floor. I immediately cried for help from residents and asked a friend to report the fire to the Gowa Police and fire department. By the time I returned, the fire had spread,'€ said eyewitness Kamaruddin, 34, a security guard at Bank Mandiri Syariah, which is located next to the shop.

Residents tried to wake up the shop owner and employees by banging on the iron door of the shop. The shop owner, who was awake, thought thieves were banging on the door, so he ran downstairs. He tried to escape by opening one of the doors.

'€œHe [Muhammad] asked residents to open all the doors and handed them the keys so that his family and employees could save themselves. But the residents didn'€™t know which key to use due to the many keys,'€ added Kamaruddin.

Employees on the second floor faced difficulties escaping as they were trapped by the flames, while others were fast asleep.

'€œThe wife of the shop owner and several other people leapt from the second floor,'€ said Kamaruddin.

Four fire trucks from Gowa arrived at the location 30 minutes after the fire broke out at 1:50 a.m. They managed to contain the fire only after six other fire trucks from Makassar arrived at the scene.

The entire contents of the shop, located opposite the Balla Lompoa Gowa traditional house, were destroyed by the fire. Four cars parked in front of the shop were also burned. The amount of damage has yet to be ascertained.

Gowa Police crime and intelligence unit chief Adj. Comr. Muhammad Akbar said the cause of the fire had yet to be determined.

'€œWe don'€™t know the cause of fire yet. We are still waiting for analysis from the forensics team that investigated the scene,'€ said Akbar.

The police have yet to question witnesses being treated at the hospital.