Massive fire destroys buildings at Jakarta's Jiung Market, leaving hundreds homeless

A massive fire engulfed the Jiung Market in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Monday night (June 1). The incident affected hundreds of residents and damaged several buildings. As reported by the news outlet Jakarta Globe, 35 fire tenders and 175 firefighters were rushed to the site. The scale of the incident left many families homeless, and it took emergency crews over seven hours to completely douse the flames. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the Kemayoran fire. Deputy Governor Rano Karno noted that approximately 95 per cent of fire incidents in Jakarta are caused by electrical short circuits.

“Based on the preliminary assessment, the fire affected nearly 304 buildings, 354 households, and a total of 679 residents,” Rano, who was at the site, told reporters on Tuesday (June 2). 326 men and 353 women were affected by the fire, including 35 elderly people, 90 toddlers, 53 elementary school students, 6 junior high school students, and 22 vocational high school students. There were 414 adults, and several women were pregnant.

Hapil, a street vendor who had lived and worked in the area for three decades, was busy with work when the fire spread. Speaking to the news outlet Jakarta Globe, the 60-year-old said, “My child told me that a rented house had caught fire. I didn’t have time to save anything at all. These are still the same clothes I was wearing last night.”

Another resident, Isti, aged 40, said she did not know what caused the fire but realised something was wrong after she saw a thick smoke filling the area. Deputy Governor Rano said that the city administration had offered to relocate victims to public housing apartments. But they refused to move, having lived in the community for years before the fire destroyed it.