Indonesia: 46 burnt beyond recognition in factory fire

Tragedy struck again early Thursday, as fire engulfed a fireworks factory in Tanggerang city near the Indonesian capital, claiming at least 46 lives, all burnt beyond recognition.

According to Indonesia’s regional police spokesman Argo Yuwono, 103 workers were said to be in the building at the time of the blast and10 remained unaccounted for.

“We will identify the bodies. We will find out who is still missing — we don’t yet have names for those still missing,” he said at the scene of the explosion.

“We don’t know, however, if those 10 workers were actually in the factory at the time, or whether they may have been ill and not come to work.”

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Local police official Freddy Yudha said earlier that 34 people had been injured.

The satellite city on Jakarta’s western outskirts is known for the location of several industrial parks.

Ten fire trucks were sent to the scene, Muhammad Suhermanto, a local fire and disaster agency official, said, warning that the number of victims could rise.

Officials suspect a fire broke out from an electric short circuit before triggering the explosion.

“There was a large explosion. Our suspicion is that chemical materials inside the factory triggered the explosion. And the large explosion was then followed by a smaller one,” Suhermanto said.

Indonesia is alleged to have poor fire-safety standards and industrial fires are not uncommon. It is not the first time a deadly explosion has occurred at a fireworks factory.

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