Deadly factory blaze sparks debate

Girl, 14, among 47 killed in inferno in Indonesia

TANGERANG, Indonesia — The explosion came first, shocking 17-year-old Fitriyah and sending her running for the only exit of the Indonesian fireworks factory where she started work just the week before.

Next came the heat from the fires and then the choking smoke, which made navigating the chaos impossible. As more explosions rang out and the flames spread, there appeared to be no escape. She could feel the skin on her hand start to peel off.

Then a co-worker appeared and told Fitriyah to follow him and to jump in a nearby pool used to wash factory equipment.

“That pool was like a hand of God,” Fitriyah, who goes by one name, said Friday from the hospital room where she was being treated for burns. “It rescued us.”

Thursday’s inferno at the factory in Tangerang, near Jakarta, killed at least 47 people, including a 14-yearold girl. It has raised questions about safety regulations and possible child labor in this poor and sprawling archipelago nation. Most of the factory’s 103 employees were young women earning about $3 a day.

Police said Friday that they were questioning the owner of the factory but didn’t want to speculate about the cause before the investigation is completed.

Fitriyah was one of five workers who survived by jumping into the pool, where police and other rescuers were able to reach them after about 30 minutes.

As investigators tried to piece together what happened, relatives crushed by grief went to a police hospital’s morgue in eastern Jakarta on Friday morning to identify loved ones.

Pramujoko, the head of identification at the hospital, said one victim had been identified through dental records: a 14-year-old girl who police said was known as Surnah.

Some 46 injured people were taken for treatment at three hospitals. As of Friday evening, 28 remained hospitalized, some in critical condition. Three workers were missing.

Tangerang police chief Harry Kurniawan said they were “intensively questioning witnesses including the factory owner and manager.”

The legal age to work in Indonesia is 15, but it climbs to 18 if the work is considered hazardous.