TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sparks of fire that appeared on the sidewalks in Cikini on Sunday, November 3, which had caused commotion among pedestrians and local residents, is suspected to be the cause of damaged underground cable networks. PLN's Greater Jakarta Distribution Unit (UID) suspects peeled cables as the source of the fire.

The first information of the sparks was posted to the Instagram account of @jktinfo, based on pedestrians' reports. The sparks caused smoke to soar from the manhole, sounding like firecrackers.

"The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The cables could be damaged by [acts of] vandalism or because of mistakes during maintenance work," PLN unit office's senior manager for general affairs Tris Yanuarsyah said in a written statement to ANTARA on Sunday.

To repair the damage, PLN sent officers to replace the 25-meter underground low-voltage power cable, "they will also install cable protector pipes," Tris said.

There was a power cut after the sparks appeared on Cikini's sidewalk. The fire department immediately put out the fire.

According to Tris, the cable network has been operating since September 2019 and had completed installation work. Officers from PLN are still investigating the cause of the fire sparks.

TEMPO.CO