A

gas stove explosion at a house in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, triggered a fire in the wee hours of Sunday, injuring a family of three and quickly burning down 43 houses.

Firefighters were struggling to tame the flames that spread fast in the densely populated area of Bidaracina, which is known as a subdistrict that often suffers from floods.

East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency head of operations Gatot Sulaeman said the incident had begun when a gas stove exploded at a house located on Jl. Kebon Sayur II at around 3 a.m., when Saadih, 50, started to cook for sahur (predawn meal).

She suffered burns all over her body in the incident that also hurt two other people in the house, Muahana, 60, and Adisti, 18.

Muahana had his hands and face burned and Adisti suffered burns on her leg.

“The three victims were rushed to Kramat Jati Police Hospital [in East Jakarta] for treatment,” Gatot said on
Sunday.

Thirteen fire trucks were deployed to the area to extinguish the fire, an effort that was completed two and a half hours later, at 5:30 a.m.

Jatinegara Police chief Comr. Supadi concurred that the fire was likely caused by a gas explosion.

“[Saadih] planned to cook for sahur. The explosion occurred after she turned on the stove,” Supadi explained, adding that he suspecting there had been a gas leak.

Around 72 families of roughly 220 individuals were affected by the incident. All of them have been evacuated to tents erected by the Jakarta Social Agency.

East Jakarta Social Agency head Benny Martha said aid had been distributed to the 220 individuals by Sunday morning, including 120 packages of food, 20 packages for childcare, nine packages for the needs of elderly, 130 blankets and 30 tarpaulins.

“Our team prepared the aid right after hearing the news. According to our standard operating procedure, the aid has to be distributed within two hours of an incident,” Benny said.

He added that three tents erected by the agency for the evacuees were equipped with public kitchens.

The kitchens would be operated in the next three days, but the operation could be longer than that if the residents requested it.

“We will increase the aid by cooperating with the region’s disaster response team to collect aid from generous citizens and hand it directly to the evacuees,” Benny added.

In addition to the agency and the disaster response team, Women’s rights advocacy group Institut KAPAL Perempuan also opened an aid post near the location of the fire. Citizens are free to visit the post and drop off supplies, from food to clothing.

“The most-needed thing at the moment is underwear. We have received lots of clothing but only a small part of it is underwear,” Institut Kapal Perempuan member Khusnul Ema told the The Jakarta Post via phone.

In February, Bidaracina was among the subdistricts most affected by floods.

Located near Ciliwung River, it is among the areas prone to flooding during the rainy season.

The Jakarta administration had planned to evict residents from Bidaracina to build a canal in the hope of restoring the river.

However, in 2016, the administrative court revoked the gubernatorial decree on the building of the canal, so the administration halted the project.

After the February floods, Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno announced again a plan to relocate Bidaracina and Rawajati residents living on the river bank to restore the river.