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Indonesia factory death toll rises to 47

Thursday, 26 October 2017


The number of deaths has risen to 47 from Thursday's blast at a fireworks factory on the outskirts of Indonesia's capital of Jakarta, with 46 injured, police spokesman Argo Yuwono told Metro Television.

"There are 47 bodies," Yuwono said. "From the manifest we obtained there were 103 workers."

Of this latter figure, 46 were injured in the explosion, he said, adding that they were being treated at three nearby hospitals.

Witnesses said there were two explosions, one at around 10 am and then another about three hours later, both of which could be heard miles away, media reports said.

Thick plumes of dark smoke billowed from a warehouse in the Tangerang district of Jakarta, an industrial and manufacturing hub on the island of Java, TV broadcasts showed.

Saduni, a local district head, earlier told Metro TV that 30 people had been killed but media reports said the toll was lower, with one putting it at 23.

Fiza, a doctor in the emergency unit at Tangerang General Hospital, told Metro TV he was treating seven people, some of them with burns to more than 80 percent of their bodies. Three were in critical condition.

Tangerang police chief Harry Kurniawan said the dead were discovered by his officers when they entered the factory warehouse, the Detik.com news portal reported.

A video of the scene inside the warehouse, which was widely shared on social media, showed onlookers counting badly charred bodies.

The video and media images of the PT Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses warehouse showed smouldering ash and debris, with the roof missing in some parts.

The factory had been operating for only two months, media said.