Victims of Tangerang Prison Fire Difficult to Identify, Says Minister
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8 September 2021 17:12 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly on Wednesday said the National Police Hospital (RS Polri) will handle the identification process of the 41 victims of the massive fire that engulfed the Tangerang Prison (Lapas Tangerang).
“The bodies were transported to the RS Polri for further identification by the police Inafis (Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System) team,” said Yasonna as he visited the tragic scene on September 8.
He said the authrotities would likely use the DNA identification process as the conditions of the bodies were unrecognizable. Two of the deceased were foreign nationals, one convicted terrorist, one murder case convict, while the rest were drug-related convicts
According to police’s latest investigation, 41 convicts died in the fire that engulfed the penitentiary’s Block C 2 on Wednesday dawn at 01:45. The cell block housed a total of 122 convicts.
“40 of them died at the scene while one died on his way to the hospital,” said Yasonna Laoly.
The raging fire that engulfed the packed penitentiary was not able to be contained by prison officers. Fortunately, 81 convicts survived with 8 of them sustaining severe injuries and 32 minor injuries.
Read: Police Say Fire in Tangerang Prison Caused by Short Circuit
JONIANSYAH HARDJONO
