46 killed in fireworks plant blasts
Toll expected to rise as dozens badly injured
TWO explosions and a fire at a fireworks factory on the western outskirts of Indonesia’s capital killed 46 people and injured dozens, and the death toll was expected to rise, police said.
Thick plumes of dark smoke billowed from a factory warehouse in the Tangerang district, an industrial and manufacturing hub on the island of Java, TV broadcasts showed.
Desperate friends and family thronged a nearby police hospital in Kramat Jati looking for loved ones.
Some relatives wept openly outside the hospital as victims, covered in bandages, were laid out in stretchers, while others with minor injuries sat in the hospital’s hallways or outside.
Hours later the burnt-out factory was still smouldering and there was a strong smell of burning plastic and chemicals.
Witnesses said there had been two explosions, one at about 10am and another about three hours later, both of which could be heard kilometres away.
A grisly video of the scene inside the warehouse, widely shared on social media, showed onlookers counting badly charred bodies.
“From the manifest we obtained, there were 103 workers.
“Of those 103 workers . . . 46 were injured,” Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told Metro Television.
“We also found some who had died. There are 46 bodies.”
Yuwono said 10 people on the manifest unaccounted for might have left with light injuries or might not have been working at the time.
The online video and media images of the PT Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses warehouse showed smouldering ash and debris, with parts of the roof missing.
A search and rescue official, Deden Nurjaman, said bodies were still inside and he expected the death toll to climb.
“People were burnt so badly you couldn’t see their faces. It was really bad,” he said.
Industrial safety standards in Indonesia are often poor and rules weakly enforced.
There have been a series of major fires this year, including one that engulfed one of Jakarta’s main markets.
Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri said he had asked his staff to investigate reports of underage workers at the factory.
“If there were underage workers, that would be a violation,” Dhakiri said, adding that he could revoke the company’s permit. – Reuters, AFP