Wife, 3 children killed in luxury Gucci store fire

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Fri, 05/09/2008 9:38 AM  |  Bali

A man stood screaming as he watched his wife and three children trapped in a fire razing his business and home in Denpasar on Thursday morning, in a blaze that also incurred hundreds of million rupiah in property losses, police said.

Hasan, the owner of a Gucci shoe store in Kertha Wijaya shopping complex who lived with his family of four on the second story of the shop, suffered major burns to his body and is now hospitalized at Sanglah General Hospital. His wife Arni Yong and three children, Johan, Dennis Surya and Kathrin, were found dead at the scene.

Adj. First Insp. Wayan Widia, a police officer at the site, said Hasan had managed to exit the store just a few seconds before the fire's fumes enveloped the building. He said Hasan had found his way down to the shoe display room on the first floor through a stairway located at the back of the store, where there was no exit. He had struggled to reach the front roller door of the building, Wayan said.

"Maybe he though he would have been able to help his family once he was out from the store, but he failed to do that," he said.

He said evidence gathered showed Hasan's family had been unable to break through the iron bars installed in the window frames on the second floor.

"He stood outside the store, shouting and waiting for his family members to jump out from the second story window. But the bars were too strong, they couldn't break them," he said.

Another store, Trend beauty salon, was also damaged but had its first floor untouched by the fire.

A witnesses, Mangku Made Dana, said the fire started on the second level of the shoe store at around 6:30 a.m. He had banged on the store's front roller door to alert the family but there had been no response, he said.

It took five fire trucks to extinguish the fire, which lasted about two hours. A lack of water hydrants in the area forced fire engines to drive back and forth to hydrants in other areas.

Some witnesses at the scene said fire officers had pumped water out of a hydrant located a few hundred meters from the scene.

Wayan said the fire was most likely caused by an electrical short circuit, but police would still be waiting for forensic results.

"We can't conclude anything until the investigation is complete. Right now let us do our work," he told The Jakarta Post.

Police forensic officers at the scene refused to comment.

West Denpasar police precinct head Adj. Comr. Ida Bagus Mantra said police would investigate the incident to determine if there were any signs of criminal activity or negligence.

A  |   A  |   A  |    |   |    |    |    |  

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.