Explosion near debate venue caused by firecrackers: Police

The explosion near presidential debate venue caused people to run in panic.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The explosion heard in the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday night was caused by firecrackers. Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Gatot Eddy Pramono said. The explosion was heard near the venue of the second round of the 2019 presidential debate at around 08.15 p.m. local time.

"The explosion was from firecrackers. We are still investigating it," Pramono said here on Sunday.

The police are still checking the CCTV put near the scene of the explosion to find out somebody who had put the firecrackers in the Senayan East Parking Lot. The police's central forensic laboratory (Puslabfor) is still investigating the evidence.

Pramono said that there had been no casualties or material losses as a result of the incident. The police had put out a police line to prevent civilians from entering the scene.

The scene could be passed by civilians. The explosion caused people in the area to run in panic.

One of volunteer supporters of President Joko Widodo, Radja Ginting, said that he was about 15-20 meters from the explosion. His colleague Titi Marhaeni fainted when she heard the explosion.

"I was not far from the explosion. The explosion occurred when I was drinking coffee along with other volunteers. The explosion caused us to run in panic," he said.

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February 18, 2019 at 05:47PM from Republika Online RSS Feed http://bit.ly/2V3QBZe
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