The South Jakarta Police suspect structural failure caused the collapse of a canopy attached to the main Pakubuwono Spring apartment building in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, on Tuesday night, which killed three workers and injured three others.

South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Mardiaz Kusin Dwihananto said on Wednesday that the police would focus their investigation on the construction of the collapsed canopy after learning that there had been additional work to its structure.

“The [apartment] building was completed about 18 months ago. But, there have been changes made to the building, including the construction of the canopy. Perhaps these changes have had an impact on its structure,” Mardiaz told the media at the site of the accident on Wednesday afternoon.

He, however, declined to jump to a conclusion on the cause of the accident, saying that they would await the outcome of the investigation by the police’s forensic laboratory unit.

The accident happened when the workers were busy completing the canopy. It has been reported that the steel-framed canopy suddenly collapsed on the workers below.

Jakarta Police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono, said all the victims were employees of PT Tunas Jaya Sanur, the contractor of the Pakubuwono Spring Apartments.

“According to eyewitnesses, the accident happened at about 8:15 p.m. Two workers died at the scene and were later taken to the Fatmawati Hospital, while three other injured workers were rushed to the Medika Permata Hijau Hospital for treatment,” said Argo on Wednesday.

Mardiaz later in the evening told The Jakarta Post that a third body was eventually recovered from the debris by the police and a team from the property developer at 4:30 p.m.

“We had to be more careful when we recovered the last [third] body. The contractor had to take some measures to strengthen the foundation of the building since it [the canopy] was attached to the main building,” he said.

“Miscalculations could have led to other damage or the collapse of other parts of the building,” he added.

The three fatalities were identified only as Adi, also known as Bima, 30, Khoirul Mas’um, 35, and Dedi Irawan. Meanwhile, the injured workers were identified only as Aris Suryanto, 33, Muklas, 44, and Idris bin Sohari, 28.

Mardiaz said teams from the Jakarta Police, as well as the forensic team from the Workers Social Security Agency and the Ministry of Manpower were still investigating the scene.

Argo said the developer of Pakubuwono Spring Apartments could be charged under Articles 359 and 360 of the Criminal Code for negligence that led to dead and injured victims.

The public were prevented from helping to rescue the victims, as only the internal teams from the property developer and the Jakarta Police were allowed on site. At about 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, a team from the South Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency arrived to assist in the rescue effort, but were denied entry by the apartment’s security team.

“One of our rescue units went to the site after we received a report from the South Jakarta Police about the accident, but the apartment’s management did not allow us onto the site,” Irwan, head of the South Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency, told the Post on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Pakubuwono Spring Apartment’s management did not comment when the Post contacted them on Wednesday. (roi).

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