No less than three folks have been killed and several other injured in a fireplace blamed on protesters in Sulawesi island.
Printed On 30 Aug 2025
No less than three folks have been killed and 5 have been injured in a fireplace blamed on protesters at a regional parliament constructing in jap Indonesia, as widespread demonstrations rock the Southeast Asian nation.
Indonesia’s catastrophe administration company, in a press release on Saturday, confirmed the deaths following the Friday night fireplace in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, some 1,600km (994 miles) east of the capital, Jakarta.
“From final night time’s incident, three folks died. Two died on the scene, and one died on the hospital. They have been trapped within the burning constructing,” the secretary of Makassar metropolis council, Rahmat Mappatoba, instructed the AFP information company on Saturday.
He accused protesters of storming the workplace to set the constructing on fireplace.
Indonesia’s official Antara information company additionally stated the victims have been reported to have been trapped within the burning constructing, whereas the catastrophe company stated two of the injured have been harm whereas leaping out of the constructing.
A number of folks injured within the fireplace are being handled in hospital, officers stated.
The fireplace has since been extinguished.
Indonesia has been rocked by protests throughout main cities, together with Jakarta, since Friday, after footage unfold of a bike supply driver being run over and killed by a police tactical automobile in earlier rallies over low wages and perceived lavish perks for presidency officers.
In West Java’s capital metropolis of Bandung, business buildings, together with a financial institution and a restaurant, have been additionally reportedly burned on Friday throughout demonstrations.
In Jakarta, lots of of demonstrators massed outdoors the headquarters of the elite Cellular Brigade Corp (Brimob) paramilitary police unit that was blamed for operating over bike supply driver Affan Kuniawan.
Protesters threw stones and firecrackers, and police responded with tear gasoline as a gaggle tried to tear down the gates of the unit, which is infamous for its heavy-handed ways.
On Saturday, an area on-line information web site reported that younger protesters had massed in Jakarta and have been heading to the Brimob headquarters earlier than they have been stopped by a barricade.
Police stated that they had detained seven officers for questioning in reference to the motive force’s demise. The variety of protesters injured within the violence is reported to be greater than 200, based on the Tempo information web site.
The protests are the largest and most violent of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s tenure, and are a key take a look at lower than a yr into his presidency.
Prabowo has urged calm, ordered an investigation into the unrest, visited the household of the slain supply driver, whereas additionally warning that the demonstrations “have been resulting in anarchic actions”.
