Nightclub fire kills 10 in Surabaya

Nightclub fire kills 10 in Surabaya
Associated Press, Jakarta | Fri, 06/25/2010 11:32 PM | Archipelago
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The death toll from a fire that ripped through a packed nightclub in Surabaya early Friday has reached 10, including a mother and the baby she apparently gave birth to during the tragedy.

An Australian and a Japanese national also were among the dead, said police Lt. Col. Bahagia Dachi.

Some witnesses told officers a spark from a cigarette triggered the blaze.

The Redboxx Cafe erupted in flames at 3:30 a.m. as hundreds of people filled the club in the country’s second largest city, some to watch the World Cup soccer game.

It took firefighters several hours to bring the blaze under control. Dachi said five victims were in critical condition at local hospital.

A mother who apparently gave birth during the fire and the baby were both found dead, he said.

Dachi said the death toll could rise because rescuers are still searching for possible victims under the collapsed roof of the cafe on the second floor.

He added that police had identified the bodies of two men as 36-year-old Japanese Yoshifumi Ciba, and Peter Lee, a 35-year-old Australian. Both worked at Indonesian companies.

the Jakarta Post

June 30, 2010
Amir Tedjo


Firefighters retrieve the body of a victim of Redboxx cafe fire in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia 25 June 2010. Police announce they have arrested a suspect arsonist. (EPA Photo) /

Surabaya Police Arrest Law Student for Arson That Killed 10

Surabaya Police announced on Wednesday that they had arrested a man suspected of setting fire to the Cafe Redboxx in the East Java capital last Friday. 10 people were killed in the fire.

The suspect, a law student at a private university in Surabaya, told the police he did not mean to burn down the building.

“The suspect said his initial intention was only to trigger panic among Redboxx staffs,” said Adj. Comr. Arbaridi Jumhur, the chief detective of Surabaya Police. He added that the student started the fire by setting a curtain alight with a match.

“But the flame spread and it was beyond his expectation,” Arbaridi said.

Police are saying that revenge was the motive behind the arson, saying that the suspect was friends with a former employee of the cafe.

Cafe Redboxx, located on the second floor of the Pakuwon Trade Center mall complex, caught fire at 3:20 a.m. last Friday while customers were watching a live broadcast of a World Cup match.

A pregnant woman reportedly gave birth to her child during the inferno. Police said that the newborn's body was found just inches from the mother. Both perished.

Two foreigners were among the casualties.

Police identified them as Australian citizen Peter Koon Ho Lee and Japanese national Yoshifumi Chiba.

The Jakarta Globe

...The suspect, a law student at a private university in Surabaya, told the police he did not mean to burn down the building.



Kan ie meteen zijn theorie, geleerd op de Uni, in praktijk brengen en op zich zelf toepassen.