Mini-market collapses in Indonesia killing at least five and injuring nine

The collapse of a mini-market in Indonesia has led to the death of at least five people and injury of a further nine, with rescuers still searching through the rubble.

On the afternoon of Monday 18, April, a three-floor mini-market in Borneo island’s Banjar district, Indonesia, collapsed onto customers and employees, just before Muslims broke their daily fast on the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Emergency services were sent to the scene to dig through the remains overnight, recovering five bodies from amidst the rubble and rescuing nine people, South Kalimantan Police spokesman Mochammad Rifai told Agence France-Presse.

“We had a report that there were in total 14 people, all of them had been found. However, we have not closed the search and rescue operation yet in case there are any more victims.” stated Rifai.

Rifai stated that police were sent to the scene to investigate what had caused the collapse, but the official reason has not yet been given.

“The mini-market building, as well as a lot of buildings in Banjar, stand on peatland so flooding is common. But we cannot conclude that is the cause of the accident,” he stated.

2020 saw at least two people injured in Jakarta following the collapse of a five-storey building, and 2018 saw seven killed in the collapse of a building in Carbon, located in east Jakarta, as well as 75 people injured when an Indonesian stock exchange building collapsed.

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