Explosion kills two in Makassar

MAKASSAR. Two people have died after an explosion on Monday afternoon at the Puri Pa’tene residence complex in Biringkanaya, Makassar.

The Makassar Police said the explosion which occurred around 3:30 p.m. local time in a house at the residential complex killed two women; Romlah, 58, and Sina, 36. The victims’ house was destroyed by the explosion which also damaged 10 other houses, the police said.

Two people were injured in the incident and were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Makassar Police chief Sr. Comr. Fery Abraham said it was suspected that a homemade device used to catch fish had caused the explosion as local residents had reported a strong homemade-explosive smell following the incident.

He said that to confirm the cause of the explosion, the South Sulawesi Police’s Gegana bomb squad investigated the incident site and sent evidence materials to the National Police’s forensics laboratory in Makassar.

“From our preliminary investigations, the explosion was caused by a fish bomb, but we will wait for results of both forensic laboratory examination and autopsy of the two victims to confirm the cause of the explosion,” said Fery, adding the bodies of the two victims would be sent to Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Makassar for autopsy.

According to information from several witnesses, the husband of one of the two victims was a fisherman, Fery said. However, when the incident occurred, he was not at home.

As of Monday evening, the Gegana and forensic teams are still investigating what exactly caused the explosion. (Andi Hajramurni)

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