The deaths reported in a statement from Indonesia’s disaster management agency on Saturday, which is located about 1,600 kilometers (94 miles) east of Jakarta, the city’s capital. The fire occurred on Friday evening in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province.
Three people died as a result of the incident last night. One person died in the hospital, and two were killed at the scene. Rahmat Mappatoba, the city council’s secretary, told the AFP news agency on Saturday that they were trapped inside the burning building.
He claimed that protesters had eluded the building’s destruction after they allegedly stormed the office.
The victims were reportedly trapped in the burning building, according to Indonesia’s official Antara news agency, and two of the injured were reportedly injured when they jumped out of the building, according to the disaster agency.
According to officials, several of the injured in the fire are receiving medical care in hospitals.
Since then, the fire has ceased.
Since Friday, protests have erupted in Indonesia across major cities, including Jakarta, following footage that showed a motorcycle delivery driver being run over and killed by a police tactical vehicle during earlier rallies over alleged lavish benefits for government officials.
Commercial buildings, including a bank and a restaurant, were reportedly burned on Friday during demonstrations in West Java’s capital city of Bandung.
In Jakarta, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the elite paramilitary police unit called the Mobile Brigade Corp. (Brimob) headquarters, which is accused of overtaking motorcycle delivery driver Affan Kuniawan.
As a group attempted to knock down the unit’s gates, which is known for its harsh tactics, protesters threw stones and firecrackers and police threw tear gas.
A local online news site reported on Saturday that young protesters had gathered in Jakarta and were being stopped by a barricade before being blocked.
In connection with the driver’s death, police claimed to have interrogated seven officers. More than 200 protesters were reported to have been injured in the violence, according to the Tempo news site.
A crucial test for Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto as he prepares to take his first year in office are the largest and most violent protests of his tenure.
Prabowo has urged calm, ordered an investigation into the unrest, visited the delivery driver’s family, and warned that the demonstrations “weren’t … leading to anarchic actions.”
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply