A fire that erupted in the early hours of Monday in Paniai, Central Papua province of Indonesia, has claimed the lives of 11 people, six of them children.
The inferno, which started shortly after midnight, swept through a market and surrounding buildings, destroying at least 40 kiosks and residential houses in the area.
Police said the victims were found after emergency responders gained control of the blaze, which burned for more than three hours.
Central Papua police spokesman Henry Manurung said firefighters faced significant difficulties in containing the fire because of the way the market and nearby buildings were arranged.
“During the inspection, officers found 11 victims who had died with burn injuries,” Manurung said in a statement.
He disclosed that the dead comprised five adults and six children, with the children aged between two and nine.
Firefighters were deployed to the scene with fire engines and water cannons as they battled to prevent the flames from spreading to additional structures.
However, the narrow spaces between the market stalls and surrounding houses hampered the firefighting operation and allowed the fire to continue spreading.
Manurung said the concentration of buildings in the affected area prolonged the response.
“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,” he said.
Authorities have begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, including what may have triggered the fire. No cause has been established so far.
The extent of the destruction has also left scores of kiosks and homes damaged or completely destroyed, although authorities are still assessing the overall impact of the incident.
The Paniai tragedy has once again drawn attention to fire risks in Indonesia, where commercial areas and residential communities are often characterised by closely spaced structures. Such conditions can allow fires to spread quickly while limiting access for emergency crews.
The country has recorded several fatal fires and industrial incidents in recent years.
In December, a fire at a seven-storey office building in Central Jakarta killed 22 people. Police subsequently said an exploding drone battery on the ground floor was the likely source of the blaze.
In another major incident in 2023, an explosion at a nickel-processing facility in eastern Indonesia resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people.
Investigators are expected to determine the cause of the latest fire and establish whether any safety or structural factors contributed to the high number of casualties.