Jakarta, MINA – A fire at the Terra Drone building in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta on Tuesday claimed 22 lives. The victims were reportedly trapped inside the burning building due to a lack of escape routes.
Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung, who inspected the site on Tuesday afternoon, stated that the building was not prepared for rescue operations in the event of a fire.
“Indeed, the main problem is that the building was not prepared with rescue provisions in case of a fire,” he said on Wednesday.
While acknowledging that management had provided fire extinguishers and that a hydrant was available nearby, Governor Pramono highlighted a critical failure: the building had only one access point and no emergency evacuation route.
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He explained that the fire involved lithium batteries for drones sold and stored in the building.
“When it caught fire, the employees all went upstairs, and the smoke came from below,” he said. The absence of exits trapped many people, which was deemed the primary factor for the high number of fatalities.
Pramono asserted that the tragedy could have been minimized if building use regulations had been followed. He suspected the construction itself violated rules.
“This was certainly built without regard to regulations. From what I see of the structure and such, they definitely violated rules. Why? The stairs are very narrow, and that caused some people to be unable to go down,” he stated.
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The governor confirmed he had coordinated with the military, police, fire department, and city government officials regarding the incident.[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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