Indonesia market fire kills 11, including six children

JAKARTA — At least 11 people, including six children, have died after a fire tore through a market and nearby buildings in Indonesia’s eastern Papua region, police said on Monday.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight in Paniai, Central Papua province, and quickly spread to several 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.

He said the children were aged between two and nine.

The blaze raged for more than three hours, destroying at least 40 kiosks and houses despite the deployment of fire trucks and water cannons.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire.

Henry said the tightly packed arrangement of the houses and market stalls made it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze.

“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.

Deadly fires are relatively common in Indonesia, where densely packed buildings and inadequate fire-safety measures can make blazes difficult to contain.

In December, 22 people were killed when fire swept through a seven-storey office building in Central Jakarta. Police said an exploding drone battery on the ground floor was the likely cause.

In 2023, an explosion at a nickel-processing plant in eastern Indonesia killed at least 12 people.