Hundreds of students of state elementary school SDN 013 in Wonorejo subdistrict, Marpoyan Damai, Pekanbaru, have had their studies stopped indefinitely, after a fire burned down their school early Tuesday. Headmistress Daniah Usman said she was forced to send the 429 students home for an unknown period of time until replacement classrooms were found.

"We coordinated with the Pekanbaru municipal administration before sending the students home," she said, adding she hoped the administration would soon find replacement classrooms.

She said that on April 20, the students would have a semester exam.

"That's too bad. I hope the holidays will not be too long," Daniah told reporters Tuesday.

The fire razed the school building and its three computer sets, as well as all the school's documents.

"Nothing is left. It was all burned down, including the students' report books. I'm really concerned about the condition of the 75 sixth-graders who will have their final exams in May," Daniah said.

Pekanbaru Education Agency head Yuzamri Yakub said for the short term, the SDN 013 students would temporarily share the same buildings as the SDN 041 and SDN 006 schools, located near the burned-down school.

Yuzamri said the SDN 013 sixth-graders could use the two spare classrooms at SDN 041. The rest would have classes at SDN 006.

"So the disruption to their learning is just for today *Tuesday*," he said.

Effective Wednesday, Yuzamri went on, the students would have classes at the other two schools, with the teachers deciding whether to have classes in the afternoon or in the evening.

"The education agency will soon propose a budget to rebuild the burned school," he added.

Witnesses first spotted the fire at about 3:30 a.m. local time from one of the houses located behind the school. Firefighters arrived half an hour later, but could not save the school from the inferno.

The fire was extinguished two hours later, after burning down the school and eight other nearby buildings. Affected residents are being sheltered at the neighborhood Ar-Ridho Mosque.

No fatalities or injuries were reported from the fire, with most residents alerted to the danger by a prompt warning broadcast over the mosque's loudspeakers by mosque caretaker Ulil Amri.

"Many came to help evacuate people and extinguish the fire. But it was very difficult to extinguish because the houses were made of wood and we lack a hydrant here. We could only save very few items from the burning houses," Ulil said.

No estimates of losses from the fire have been made yet. Local police are still investigating the cause.

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