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Jakarta building collapse allegedly caused by dilapidated structure, 11 injured
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A five-story building on Jl. Brigjen Katamso, West Jakarta, partly collapsed on Jan. 6, injuring at least 11 people, officials reported. (Twitter/TMC Polda Metro/File)
T
he partial collapse of a five-story building in Jakarta on Monday morning has reportedly injured 11 people, according to an official.
The building is located on Jl. Brigjen Katamso near the Slipi overpass heading toward Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.
National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) operational director Brig. Gen. Budi Purnama said the injured people consisting of eight who were inside the building and three outside.
“Three people are convenience store attendants who were able to rescue themselves. We rescued five people from the second floor,” Budi said at the location on Monday, kompas.com reported.
Victims outside the building were two male ride-hailing motorcycle taxi drivers and a woman.
Among the injured, three people, identified only as West Jakarta resident F, 27, South Jakarta resident MI, 37, and Tangerang resident EJ, 52, have been brought to Tarakan Hospital in Central Jakarta for treatment.
The agency, in cooperation with relevant institutions such as the Fire and Rescue Agency, Public Order Agency and police, is currently assessing the location to ensure no other victims remain inside the building.
Budi said the incident might have been caused by the dilapidated building.
“The walls seem to be weathered and wet. From our engineering [point of view], [the building] is not safe,” he said.
A similar opinion was expressed by Rifan Gusrianto, a rescuer from SAR Jakarta, saying that puddles were found on the roof.
“This building is not safe because there are puddles on the rooftop,” he said at the location.
There is no channel built to let the water flow off the building, hence it seeped into the walls, he said.
“Seepages were found on the ceilings on the third and fourth floor because there was no access to discharge water from the rooftop,” he added.
Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency head Heru Hermawanto said the agency would probe into the cause of the incident.
“We will try to find out the cause. If we look in a glance, the quality of the building structure was too brittle,” he said. “After the police [investigate], we will check the cause."
The first floor of the building was used for an Alfamart convenience store, while the second and third floors were utilized as its warehouse. How the fourth and fifth floors were used is unclear. (sau)
