Five-storey building collapses in Jakarta, several injured: TV

Cause of collapse of mixed-use building not yet clear in country sometimes criticised for poor construction standards.

Indonesia building
Rescue team members look at a partially-collapsed building in Jakarta, Indonesia, January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan [Reuters]

A five-storey building in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, collapsed on Monday, injuring at least eight people and leaving more trapped inside, local television stations reported.

It was not immediately clear whether anyone was killed in the accident or whether it was connected to flooding last week that left more than 60 people dead.

Images showed about half the building, located on the western side of the sprawling city, had caved in with concrete and other debris lying on the road.

Rescue officials carried the injured out on stretchers.

“We are still evacuating the victims trapped inside the building,” a national search and rescue agency official told local TV.

“We can’t say yet what the cause is.”

Indonesia building collapse
The five-storey building housed a minimarket among other businesses [Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]

Authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The building is reportedly a mixed residential-commercial space with a convenience shop on the ground floor and small rental units in the upper floors.

Lax construction standards have raised widespread concerns about building safety in Indonesia.

In 2018, a group of teenagers practising for a dance and music show were among seven killed when the building they were in collapsed in Cirebon, east of Jakarta.

The same year, at least 75 people were injured when a mezzanine floor at Indonesia’s stock exchange building in Jakarta collapsed into the lobby.

Source: AFP