Indonesian authorities said on September 8 that a fire in a prison building in Indonesia has killed at least 41 people and injured 39 others.

Rika Aprianti, spokesperson for the Indonesian government’s prison department, said that the prison where the fire broke out was Block C of Tangerang Prison, Banten Province, on the outskirts of Jakarta, where all criminals related to drug crimes were held. After the fire broke out, the authorities have sent hundreds of police and soldiers to control Tangerang Prison. The prison can accommodate a total of 1,225 prisoners, but currently more than 2,000 prisoners are actually held. At the time of the fire, 122 criminals were imprisoned in Block C.

Aprilati pointed out that the fire has been extinguished, all the victims have been taken to the hospital, and the authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. Local police spokesman Yusri Yunus said that it was initially suspected that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the wire.

Overcrowding of prisons has become a major problem in Indonesia, and incidents of fires caused by prison escapes and riots have frequently occurred. In the case of insufficient funds, an operation to combat illegal drugs has caused these prisons to face the problem of large numbers of people being arrested and imprisoned. Editor/He Yuting