Jakarta office fire kills at least 22, police confirm

At least 22 people died in a fire at an office building in Jakarta, where authorities continue to search for the injured.

The fire at the seven-story facility in Indonesia’s capital started Tuesday afternoon, according to city police chief Susatyo Purnomo Condro, who said some workers were eating lunch at the time.

Police believe the fire started when a battery exploded on the first floor before flames spread upstairs. There is a company that produces drones in the building.

Susatyo said that most of the dead were women, one of them was pregnant, and that they most likely died of smoke suffocation rather than burns.

Heavy smoke poured from the upper floors as firefighters deployed 28 engines and approximately 100 personnel; Dramatic footage shows trapped workers being rescued via aerial ladders.

While the fire is extinguished, rescue teams focus on the upper floors after searching the lower floors.

Susatyo said that “access to the sixth floor was particularly challenging, according to firefighters on site,” according to the Jakarta Globe newspaper.

“We are still collecting data,” he told the Associated Press news agency. “But for now, we are focusing on identifying the victims that have been found.”

The company provides drone services to industrial customers, from aerial surveying and mapping to inspection and agriculture.