Former Indonesian President Soekarno's Gift Wisma Kosgoro On Fire

Liputan6.com, Jakarta A raging fire has swept through the 16^th ,17^th  and 18^th floors of Wisma Kosgoro last night (09/03/2015). Up until this morning, the smoke and conflagration as the ramification of last night’s blast are still evident and firemen have been assigned to put out the fire for hours. It was reported that the flame started at around 18.30 pm local time.

The flame was then exacerbated, causing it to spread to disparate floors. The fire lasted for more than 7 hours and despite the efforts made by the fire department in trying to dampen the fire, smoke continues to decorate most part of the building, causing traffic around the roads of Jalan Thamrin as people are driven by their curiosity to witness first- hand the severely damaged building.

Thus far, there has not been any report suggesting any casualty involved in the fire mayhem. However, one man was reported to have been hurt from the broken pieces of glass that fell from the 20^th floor. The Central Jakarta fire department has dispacted as many as 40 fire trucks, 3 ambulances and a number of fire fighters to the location. One unit of skylift was also exploited to put out the fire on the 20 story building that has severely damaged the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th floor of Wisma Kosgoro.

As observed by Liputan6.com on Tuesday morning (10/02/2015), thick smoke is still evident on the top levels of the building. Even the fire is still there even though it is in a smaller scale as compared to last night. It has been learned that now the fire has spread to the 20^th floor.

Police have also contributed by making sure the flow of traffic does not interfere with the evacuation process. Vehicles that pass through the building are encouraged to keep their windows closed as the debris falling off the building may cause harm to them.

The owner of Wisma Kosgoro, Hayono Isman claimed that the ‘burnt’ building was a gift from the first Indonesian President, Sukarno. He shares how initially the building was built in the 1970 and he has to sacrifice the fact that 90% of the investment belonging to the British but thereafter it was 100% owned by Indonesia.

"This land was a gift from Bung Karno, he gave it to Kosgoro in 1964. This land, this building is historic," Hayono told Liputan6.com correspondent in front of Wisma Kosgoro, Jalan MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (10/03/2015).

It has been suspected that the reason behind the fire was cigarettes butt. A person has been suspected of littering this cigarette butts inside the building at one of the top floors. However, this remains a speculation and the authority is now investigating the reason behind it and hopes for the society wait until further confirmation.

"I heard someone was throwing a cigarette butt on the 16^th floor," Hayono explained. (Akp/Ein)