Fire Kills One Family in Aceh

Banda Aceh, Aceh (Antara) - A family of four--father, mother, and two children--were killed in a fire that broke out at the Kulam Raja Udah hamlet, Meuraxa subdistrict, Banda Aceh city, on Tuesday, a spokesman said. "The family allegedly died after being trapped (by fire) in their home. The bodies were found near the bathroom. The mother was found hugging her little child," the hamlet chief of Kulam Raja Udah Arief said here on Tuesday. The victims were identified as Ruzi Muhibban (father, 36), Sri Handayani (mother, 30), Zahra Alifia (child, 5), and Ulfa (child, 1). According to him, the fire had burned the victim's house, which also functions as grocery and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) sales store, at about 4.00 am local time. The local residents then contacted the fire brigade personnel. The fire brigade personnel, however, could not extinguish the fire until after 6.00 am, as the LPG tubes stored in the ill-fated house caused difficulty to the personnel in putting out the fire. "After the fire was extinguished around 6.00 am, I went in and found them near the bathroom," Arief stated. (*) Reported by M Haris SA