More than 70 people were injured after a mezzanine floor at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) collapsed onto the building’s lobby on Monday, 15 January.
Many of the injured were university students who were on the mezzanine floor when it collapsed. There were no fatalities.
“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, as reported by Channel News Asia.
Dramatic CCTV footage that emerged on social media showed a floor shearing away in a matter of seconds under the students. Following a loud bang, slabs of concrete started to fall and water pipes burst. Images circulating on social media showed a mangled metal structure that had collapsed around a Starbucks cafe near the entrance to the lobby.
The Indonesia Stock Exchange is located in central Jakarta, and the local office of the World Bank is also housed on the 12th floor of the complex, according to its website. The building is part of a two-tower complex which was the target of a suicide bombing by Islamist militants in September 2000. Police ruled out a bomb as a cause of this recent collapse.
BUILDING MANAGEMENT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation has called on authorities to investigate the IDX management for alleged negligence that led to the collapse, as reported by the Straits Times.
“We urge the police to question parties from the building management to find out whether any laws pertaining to buildings have been violated. It may indicate the party responsible has failed to properly maintain the building,” the foundation’s chairman Tulus Abadi said in a written statement.
“We urge the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry to conduct a thorough inspection of all public buildings in the capital, such as shopping malls, hotels and offices, to ensure they have followed proper safety standards. The incident may have created fears among the public,” he added.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has said the temporary building-worthiness certificate (SLF) for the IDX building will expire on Jan 25. He pointed out that the issuance of the certificate meant that there was nothing wrong with the structure of the building, including the mezzanine floor that collapsed.
Jakarta Spatial Land Agency head Benni Agus Chandra said his agency recommended the issuance of a temporary certificate because there were some administrative requirements pertaining to the use of land that had yet to be completed.
“It has been processed since 2015. The certificate was temporary because there are still some requirements that have yet to be met. But the matter has nothing to do with the building’s structure,” Benni said.
The issuance of the SLF, he noted, would minimise the risk of accidents but not guarantee against it. The building management was required to report once every three months on the condition of the building.
Authorities have yet to identify the cause of the collapse.
More info will be updated as they become available. — Construction+ Online
