Flame Engulfed the Dome of Islamic Center Mosque in Jakarta

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The iconic Jakarta Islamic Center Mosque caught fire on Wednesday afternoon (19/10). The blaze engulfed the dome which was under renovation.

Head of North Jakarta Metro Police (Polres Metro Jakarta Utara) Commander Wibowo told the chronology of the burning accident engulfing the dome of the Islamic Center Mosque in Koja, North Jakarta. According to him, the fire occurred around 15.30 Western Indonesian Time (WIB).

"Only the dome burned, it fell down to the second and the third floor. The flame did not get spread," he said.

About the source of the flame, he is not sure whether it is from the renovation activity or something else. He said that he still wait for the report from the Forensic Laboratory of the Indonesian National Police (Labfor Polri).

So far, his team has examined the four workers in the renovation to investigate the incident. He confirmed that more people will be questioned.

"We want to know about their Standard Operational Procedure for renovating the dome, including the parties involved in the work," he added.

However, the Head of the Data and Information Center (Pusdatin) of the Regional Disaster Management Authority (BPBD) in Jakarta, Michael Sitanggang, said the blaze was caused when the glasswool was exposed to flame.

The Pusdatin of BPBD of DKI Jakarta explained several handling efforts that have been done. At 17.01 WIB, 20 units of fire engines were sent.

"To handle the situation, we sent 20 Fire Units, 1 BPBD TRC unit, 1 PLN Marunda Post unit, 1 Red Cross unit, 1 AGD Health Department unit, 1 Transportation Department unit, 1 Municipal Police (Satpol PP) unit, personnel of Social Department, personnel of District Police, and personnel of Military District," Pusdatin wrote on the official statement.

The Head of the Fire Management and Safety Department (Gulkarmat) of DKI Jakarta, Satriadi, said more than 20 Fire Units and 90 personnel came to secure the location.

He said that the team had to use ladder cars to put out the fire because of the tall building, and at the same time they had to spray the amount of water from below to prevent further spreading of the fire to other areas.

Around 7 p.m., the cooling process had been contained and the fire was completely extinghuised.

In addition, Satriadi said that there was no information on any casualties in the incident. He also claimed there were no significant obstacles faced by Gulkarmat when they sent the firefighting units.

The image of the burning was circulated widely on the social media and it shocked the netizens. Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono also came to the location and confirmed that the flame only engulfed the dome. 

Masjid Raya Jakarta Islamic Center is part of the institution for the study and development of Islam in DKI Jakarta Province: the Jakarta Islamic Center (JIC). The building is located on Jalan Kramat Jaya, Koja, North Jakarta.

JIC itself is a non-structural organization under the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government which was established in the former Kramat Tunggak prostitutes area in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. 

That area was initially a Lokres (Lokasi Resosialisasi or Resocialization Location), but eventually became notorious as a place for prostitution. In 1999, the Governor of DKI Jakarta decided to close the area. 

The concept of the JIC is is fully facilitated by the DKI Jakarta Regional Government for public benefits. It has become the location for worship, education functions, and trade/business.

It is hoped that this will make it a Jakarta landmark as well as a prototype for the Islamic Center in Indonesia. Moreover, it is also built to become one of the central nodes of Islamic civilization in Indonesia and Southeast Asia which is a symbol of the rise of Islam in Asia and the World.

Writer: Safinatun Nikmah

Fachrur Rozie, Winda Nelfira, and Huyogo Simbolon are also contributed to the report.