National Museum Caught Ablaze, Police investigate Cause of Fire

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Police are currently processing the crime scene to investigate the fire that ravaged the National Museum last Saturday evening. Chief of Central Jakarta Resort Police Chief Commissioner of Police Komaruddin stated that the police are uncertain about how long the investigation will take. 

"I cannot confirm [how long], the team will know more about it," he said at the National Museum on Sunday, September 17, 2023.

For now, Komaruddin said, the police have probed fourteen witnesses, consisting of security officers and other museum employees. 

The National Police Forensic Laboratory Center (Puslabfor) and Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (Inafis) joined forces to investigate the scene, bagging several CCTV recordings at the time of fire. "[The evidence] in several spots has been obtained. We'll inform the exact number later," he said.

Komaruddin also stated that at this time, no alleged potential crime was involved in the fire, but ensured a legal proceeding would commence if found otherwise. "The team is working to find [the cause of fire], it's still uncertain if the first flame was caused by a short circuit or other factors," Komaruddin added.

Acting Head of Public Service Agency for Museums and Cultural Heritage Ahmad Mahendra said that the National Museum is closed for the time being. During the fire, the six repatriated collections from the Netherlands were untouched since they were stored in Building B. The fire engulfed six rooms in Building A. 

"We are focused on securing the cultural heritage. So no authorized person allowed to enter the police line," Mahendra said. 

Currently, museum organizers have not calculated the total damage to the building and museum collections caused by the fire last Saturday. 

M. FAIZ ZAKI

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