At least 75 people were injured yesterday when a mezzanine floor at Indonesia’s stock exchange building collapsed into the lobby, with victims carried out of the debris-filled building on stretchers, police said.
A cascade of glass, metal and other material crashed onto the ground floor when part of the mezzanine level gave way.
The collapse was an accident and not the result of an explosion, a Jakarta police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said.
Photo: AP
Wasisto said that 75 people were injured. There were no reports of deaths so far.
Television images showed chaotic scenes as victims were taken to hospital or lay on the ground outside the tower complex in the center of the sprawling city’s business district.
“I saw many people bleeding,” student Rizki Noviandi, who was taking part in a competition at the exchange building, told Metro TV. “So many people were carried out of the building and were left on the grass outside ... until the ambulances arrived.”
The lobby was filled with debris and toppled-over plants near a Starbucks, as hundreds of building employees were evacuated.
“Our search and rescue teams, the police, doctors, the firefighters are all still working,” Wasisto said. “They are cleaning the debris and also searching for other possible injuries.”
Those hurt mostly sustained injuries to their legs and arms, Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono said.
“The accident happened at the first floor... It’s a floor where many employees are passing by... There are some victims, but they have been taken to a nearby hospital,” Yuwono said.
“There was a sound, like something had fallen off a building structure, for about 20 seconds. Everyone was panicking and people were immediately being evacuated,” said Amailia Putri Hasniawati, a journalist based at the exchange.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident at the tower in Sudirman District, which was built in 1995.
Despite the chaos, stock exchange spokesman Rheza Andhika said trade continued as usual in the afternoon session.
The accident happened shortly after noon, while the market was on its lunchtime break.
“There was a loud banging so people who were inside immediately ran outside,” Metro TV journalist Marlia Zein said.
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