Floor at Indonesia stock exchange collapses
> Mezzanine level at tower crashes into lobby, at least 75 injured
JAKARTA: At least 75 people were injured yesterday when a mezzanine floor at Indonesia’s stock exchange building collapsed into the lobby, police said, with victims carried out of the debris-filled building on stretchers.
Dramatic CCTV footage showed a group of some 40 visiting students on a balcony section plunge as the floor gave way with a cascade of glass, metal and other material crashing onto the ground floor where several others were walking.
A Jakarta police spokesman said the collapse was an accident and not the result of an explosion.
National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto told AFP 75 people had been injured. There were no reports of deaths so far.
Television images showed chaotic scenes as victims were taken to hospital or lay on the ground outside the tower complex in the centre of the sprawling city’s business district.
“I saw many people bleeding,” student Rizki Noviandi, who was taking part in a competition at the exchange building, told Metro TV.
“So many people were carried out of the building and were left on the grass outside ... until the ambulances arrived.”
“Our search and rescue teams, the police, doctors, the firefighters are all still working,” Wasisto said. “They are cleaning the debris and also searching for other possible injuries.”
Those hurt mostly sustained injuries to their legs and arms, including broken bones, a spokesman for one local hospital said.
Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono added: “The accident happened at the first floor ... it’s a floor where many employees are passing by.”
The collapse took place in one of two towers in the complex. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident at the tower in Sudirman district, which was built in 1995.
Despite the chaos yesterday, trading continued as usual in the afternoon session with the main index closing 0.2% higher. The accident happened shortly after noon local time while the market was on its lunchtime break. – AFP