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Man burns to death in sugarcane field in Blitar
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Firefighters put out a blaze on a sugarcane field in Madiun, East Java. (Antara/Siswowidodo)
A 69-year-old man has died in a fire on his sugarcane plantation in East Java’s Blitar regency.
Satirin was found dead on Monday by his neighbor Kusnawan, who was checking on his acacia field, which is located next to the sugarcane field in Wonotirto district and was also burning.
“Satirin died at his sugarcane field with more than 80 percent of his body burned,” Blitar Police spokesperson First Insp. M Burhanudin confirmed on Tuesday.
Burhanuddin said Kusnawan had gone to his field with a wood trader who wanted to buy some acacia trees, but he found his field on fire as they arrived.
“Kusnawan walked around the field to find the source of the fire. At the eastern border of his field, he found Satirin already dead,” Burhanudin said.
Blitar is one of the main sugar-producing regencies of East Java, along with Tulungagung and Kediri. There are at least 30,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation in Blitar alone.
Sugarcane fields in the three regencies often catch fire during the dry season, as almost 90 percent of the sugarcane leaves become dry and flammable. (gis)
