Blasts at Jakarta fireworks factory kill 47, injure 46

The number of casualties in a fireworks factory fire in Tangerang city near the Indonesian capital rose to 47 and 46 others were also injured, China’s Xinhua news agency reported an official as saying.

The cause of the incident in the factory is an explosion in a pickup minivan loaded with raw materials for fireworks, Denny Hassan, a senior official of the disaster management agency in the city, told Xinhua by phone from the scene.

"The casualties of the fireworks factory fire reach 47 people now," he said.

Hassan said the figure has been confirmed by the police and a medical institution in the city.

"The condition of the corpses was fully burned. Now we are searching for and combing the scene to see whether there are any other casualties," Doni Pratama, a rescuer from the Jakarta search and rescue office, told Xinhua by phone from the scene.

Pratama and several other rescuers from Jakarta have been deployed to the scene to give assistance to the local firefighters and rescuers.

The fire started at 8.30 am local time and now has been terminated, said Hanafi, a firefighter.

The wounded have been treated at nearby hospitals in Tangerang city and a police hospital in Jakarta, Hanafi added.

-- Bernama