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Fire burns down dozens of kiosks at Bandung market
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Flames of destruction: Firefighters put out a fire at a textile shop in the Pasar Baru shopping district on Feb. 27. (kompas.com/David Oliver Purba)
A fire has destroyed at least 116 kiosks at the vegetable block of the Gedebage Market in Bandung, West Java.
“No fatalities have been reported in the incident,” Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Hendro Pandowo said, adding that the fire had started early on Sunday morning.
The Bandung fire department extinguished the fire after deploying 26 fire trucks in a four-hour operation.
According to a preliminary investigation, the fire broke out at a kiosk used as a warehouse for second-hand clothing. The flames then burned down two neighboring kiosks and two trucks parked nearby. A total area of 12,000 square meters was affected by the fire.
The general, operational and commercial director of market operator PD Pasar Bermartabat, Panca Saktiadi, said his side was still collecting information on the number of kiosks burnt down as well as on the financial damage incurred.
“So far, 116 kiosks and 129 vendors are reported to have been affected by the fire,” Panca said.
PD Pasar Bermartabat unit head M. Yusuf Hidayat called on vendors to improve fire safety. “Never leave a kiosk without switching off the power,” he said.
On June 2, a fire burned down dozens of semi-permanent buildings on a plot of 6,000 square meters in the Gedebage area that is home to more than 50 families making a living as scavengers.
