More than 70 people have been injured after a walkway inside the Indonesia Stock Exchange building collapsed today, Reuters reports. Photos and videos showing the extent of the destruction have gone viral on social media, as reports from local media and police are still coming out. The cause of the collapse is still unknown.
BREAKING: Scene at Jakarta stock exchange now. Floor collapse. Many casualties pic.twitter.com/n21IclcgWq
Selasar atap Tower II Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI), Senayan, Jakarta, roboh pada 15/1/2018 pukul 12.10 Wib. Puing menimpa sejumlah orang yang berada di bawahnya. Beberapa korban luka dirawat di RS Mintoharjo, RSPP dan MRCCC. #BreakingNews #ElshintaHotNews # pic.twitter.com/1Qy2ElRQz6
A Jakarta police spokesperson, Argo Yuwono, toldThe Straits Times that police were still investigating the cause of the collapse. He explained that the walkway that collapsed connected the building’s two towers, and that many people would have been walking on it when it fell. A national police spokesperson, Setyo Wasisto, told the Associated Press that more than 70 injured people had been taken to three different hospitals.
A group of students from Sumatra were reportedly visiting the stock exchange when the building collapsed. The president director of the stock exchange Tito Sulistio, has announced that the exchange will pay for the medical treatment of these students.
“There was a rumbling noise but it wasn’t an explosion. It was like something had fallen, and suddenly the floor we were standing on fell away,” said 20-year-old student Alfita.
“Slabs of concrete started to fall, there was lots of dust. Water pipes had burst,” said Megha Kapoor, who works in the building.
kondisi saat ini pic.twitter.com/x8KNsFlBOB
Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan has ordered an audit of the building to begin tonight so “that the activities of the stock exchange are not disturbed.” The last time the building was inspected was in May 2017. It was constructed in the late 1990s and consists of a two-tower complex in the heart of Jakarta’s financial district; besides the stock exchange, the building houses several offices, including that of the World Bank.
The building was the target of a terrorist attack back in 2000, which killed 10 and injured 16 after a car bomb exploded inside the garage of the stock exchange. However, police officials told Reuters that they have ruled out terrorism as a cause for today’s incident.
Bursa efek Indonesia telah terjadi musibah#BursaEfekIndonesia pic.twitter.com/m9Xnuogwuj
