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Flares from photoshoot trigger second Bromo wildfire in a week
Police have named a suspect for allegedly causing the fire that burned the savanna at Mount Bromo in East Java on Thursday.
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Local residents watch burning savanna at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park from a distance in Lumajang, East Java, on Sept. 7, 2023. Lumajang disaster mitigation agency estimated around 611 hectares of the national park was burned by a wildfire triggered by the dry weather. (Antara/Irfan Sumanjaya)
A
pre-wedding photoshoot that went wrong has ignited a large wildfire in Mount Bromo in East Java that has burned since Wednesday, forcing authorities to close the popular tourist destination to visitors.
Septi Eka Wardhani, an official with the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, said the couple used a handheld flare for their pre-wedding photoshoot. This accidentally ignited dry grass in the savanna of the Bromo area, popularly known among tourists as Bukit Teletubbies (Teletubbies Hill).
A video showing a group of people allegedly causing the fire made the rounds in social media recently. The video appeared to show four men and a woman bringing tripods, cameras and backpacks and chatting while hanging around a blazing savanna near a sign for Teletubbies Hill.
“It seems that the perpetrators ignored our warnings on fire hazards on social media,” Septi said in a statement, adding that the police had questioned the couple.
Probolinggo Police arrested six people pertaining to the incident. On Thursday evening, the police announced that they had named AP, the 41-year-old wedding organizer, as a suspect in the case.
The suspect allegedly did not obtain a permit to enter the conservation area in Bromo. AP also allegedly brought five flares for the pre-wedding photoshoot. One of them caused a spark that later burned 50 hectares of the Bromo savanna field, Probolinggo Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Wisnu Wardana said as reported by kompas.id.
Read also: Regions brace for wildfire, haze as dry season peaks
