TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Nine dead, dozens of houses destroyed in North Sumatra Idul Fitri fires
Fires have destroyed dozens of houses in two different locations in South Tapanuli and Labuhan Batu, North Sumatra, during the Idul Fitri holidays, with nine people reported dead, including seven children.
Change Size
Firefighters try to put out a fire that raged through Perintis Kemerdekaan, North Jakarta, on Idul Fitri day, June 5. (kompas.com/Vitorio Mantalean)
Fires have destroyed dozens of houses in two different locations in South Tapanuli and Labuhan Batu, North Sumatra, during the Idul Fitri holidays, with nine people reported dead, including seven children.
Five of the dead are the children of Yanuari Waruru. They are Fifi Ceria Nursicu Waruwu, 10, Fince Ardila Waruwu, 7, Firsan Nutrisari Waruwu, 7, Firjan Henra Kurniawan Waruruwu, 4, and Indah Melati Waruwu, 2. The fire razed Yanuari’s house.
Yanuari said his children were trapped inside the house when the incident happened on Friday night while he and his wife were at church. When he arrived at the house, they found the bodies of their children.
“We’re very sad with this accident. Our five beloved children died inside a burning house,” Yanuari said on Sunday, adding that a number of important documents were also lost.
The head of planning and logistics at the South Tapanuli Disaster Mitigation Agency, Hotmatua Rambe, said the location of the fire was difficult to reach and firefighters found it difficult to extinguish it. The fire trucks could only be parked 2 kilometers away from the fire.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, a fire razed around 20 houses In Labuhan Batu, in which a husband, wife and their two children died.
