UPDATE - Indonesia: At least 47 dead in firecracker factory fire

UPDATES WITH FRESH DEATH TOLL, ADDED DETAILS

By Ainur Rohmah

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) - A fire at a firecracker factory on the outskirts of Jakarta on Thursday led to 47 deaths, police said.

A similar number were injured when a fire broke out at the plant in Tangerang, a satellite city of Jakarta.

“About 39 bodies have been evacuated to the National Police Hospital,” Jakarta Police spokesman Senior Commissioner Argo Yuwono told Anadolu Agency.

“There are still eight bodies [on site], so the total [number of] victims is 47.” He added that 46 wounded had been hospitalized.

“Based on the testimony of witnesses there were 103 workers working in the factory today.”

The fire at the P.T. Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses factory, which opened two months earlier, broke out at around 9 a.m. local time (0200GMT), Yuwono said.

Locals heard two explosions from the factory and saw smoke coming the building’s roof, the Kompas.com news outlet reported.

Rescuers knocked down walls to free workers trapped in the building. Yuwono said an emergency exit had been locked, preventing workers from escaping, and many charred remains were found in a pile.

Bodies were taken to hospital to be identified but most were burned beyond recognition.

Senior Commissioner Nico Afinta, the director of Jakarta Police’s General Crimes Unit, confirmed 103 workers were employed at the factory and said emergency workers were still looking for missing employees.

Students and teachers at a nearby high school reportedly fled to escape the developing blaze.