By: Desy Nurhayati

Seven were killed and two seriously injured in a fire that razed a restaurant called Soto Lamongan, in Kedoya, West Jakarta, on Monday morning.

A gas canister leakage reportedly caused the fire. The fire was the second involving a gas canister this week after another canister exploded in Cakung, East Jakarta, leaving hundreds homeless.

"The victims were all female employees of the restaurant and they were found huddled up in a room," West Jakarta Police chief Comr. Hendra Gunawan said at the location after an investigation team inspected the site.

The other two victims were male employees who escaped the fire by jumping from the second floor of the building, behind the restaurant, where more than 30 of the workers lived.

The fire was caused by a gas leak, the chief said.

"According to a witness, one of the deceased victims, Suwarni, lit a stove when a gas canister next to the stove was leaking," he said. "Suwarni and another deceased victim had tried to fix the leak, but panicked and did not succeed. By the time the other stove was lit, gas had already filled the kitchen."

Suwarni and her friend had tried to escape to a room at the back of the kitchen, but both, along with five other workers who were still asleep at that time, died in the fire and their bodies were taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo morgue in Central Jakarta.

Haryo and Jumaidi, the two male employees who jumped from the second floor, broke arms and legs and were taken to Puri Mandiri hospital in Kedoya, before being transferred to Al Kamal hospital in the same area.

Jakarta fire and disaster control agency head Paimin Napitupulu said the blaze began at around 4 a.m.

"The fire started with a 12 kilogram gas canister," he said.

It took 12 fire engines to put out the fire at around 5.30 a.m.

Dali Danang, a resident, said the first two fire engines had failed to put out the fire because they were not carrying enough water.

"If only those first two engines had enough water with them, the fire might have been extinguished sooner," he said.

Residents had attempted to help fight the fire, to no avail, Dali said.

"It was simply too big," he said.

Yanto, whose 17-year-old nephew Jumi was among those killed in the blaze, said, "There was no way I could saved her".

Yanto lived just a few blocks from the restaurant. "The fire was huge," he said, staring at the rubbles that was once a well-established eatery.

West Jakarta Mayor Joko Ramadhan said the municipality would send the bodies of the victims back to their hometowns, free of charge, and would donate Rp 1.5 million (around US$147) to the families of the victims.

The owner of the restaurant who was also the building's resident, Ignatius Gunawan Tjandra, was currently staying at his relative's house a few blocks from the site, Dali said. "He was shocked when he heard the news, and he had already suffered a mild stroke before the incident," Dali said.

Previously on Saturday, another gas canister explosion caused a huge fire, destroying at least 20 kiosks selling firewood. Hundreds of residents, mainly women and children who lived in the kiosks, were left homeless.

--The Jakarta Post/ANN