A fire in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua area destroyed a market on Monday, killing 11 people, including six children, according to authorities.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight in the town of Paniai, Central Papua province, and quickly spread to multiple shophouses, according to local police spokesman Henry Manurung.
“During the inspection, officers found 11 victims who had died with burn injuries. Of the 11 victims, five of them were adults, while the other six were children,” Henry said in a statement.
The affected children were aged between two and nine years old, he added.
Despite the presence of fire trucks and water cannons, the fire lasted for more than three hours, destroying at least 40 kiosks and houses.
Authorities were still looking into the cause of the incident.
“The intensity of the blaze and the fact that the houses and stalls were all packed tightly together made the firefighting process take quite a long time,” Henry said.
Indonesia has, in recent times, been affected by deadly infernos.
In December, a seven-story office building in Central Jakarta caught fire, killing 22 people.
According to police, the most likely cause was an exploded drone battery on the ground floor.
In 2023, an explosion occurred in a nickel-processing plant in the country’s east, killing at least 12 people.
