independent on line, 7 December 2009
Police charged three men with accidentally causing the deaths of 20 patrons in a fire at a third-floor karaoke bar in one of Indonesia's largest cities, alleging they sparked the blaze during renovations, an official said on Monday.
Charged in the Friday night fire in Medan on Sumatra island were the general manager of the bar, a building contractor and a carpenter whom police allege ignited the fire while trying to melt through a carpet with a cigarette lighter, north Sumatra police chief Maj General Badrodin Haiti said.
Each faces a potential prison sentence of five years if convicted of negligence causing death. The bodies of 11 men and nine women were recovered from the charred debris of the bar.
Six patrons remained in hospitals, two of them critically injured, Haiti said. Their injuries were caused by burns, trampling by panicked patrons and smoke inhalation, he said.
Medan city authorities found that the popular bar lacked basic safety equipment, including emergency ladders and a sprinkler system, acting Mayor Rahudman Harahap told The Jakarta Post newspaper.
"Because of such low standards, many visitors were trapped and killed," Harahap told reporters. City authorities were examining safety standards at other night spots in Medan, he said. Harahap could not immediately be contacted on Monday for comment.
Source: independent on line
Police charged three men with accidentally causing the deaths of 20 patrons in a fire at a third-floor karaoke bar in one of Indonesia's largest cities, alleging they sparked the blaze during renovations, an official said on Monday.
Charged in the Friday night fire in Medan on Sumatra island were the general manager of the bar, a building contractor and a carpenter whom police allege ignited the fire while trying to melt through a carpet with a cigarette lighter, north Sumatra police chief Maj General Badrodin Haiti said.
Each faces a potential prison sentence of five years if convicted of negligence causing death. The bodies of 11 men and nine women were recovered from the charred debris of the bar.
Six patrons remained in hospitals, two of them critically injured, Haiti said. Their injuries were caused by burns, trampling by panicked patrons and smoke inhalation, he said.
Medan city authorities found that the popular bar lacked basic safety equipment, including emergency ladders and a sprinkler system, acting Mayor Rahudman Harahap told The Jakarta Post newspaper.
"Because of such low standards, many visitors were trapped and killed," Harahap told reporters. City authorities were examining safety standards at other night spots in Medan, he said. Harahap could not immediately be contacted on Monday for comment.
Source: independent on line
