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Dozens killed at Indonesia fireworks factory explosion

Posted at 6:40 AM, Oct 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-26 08:54:42-04

The number of people killed in a fireworks factory explosion near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta has climbed to at least 47, police told CNN's affiliate CNN Indonesia on Thursday.

Regional police spokesman Argo Yuwono said 103 workers were believed to be in the building at the time of the blast and that 10 remained unaccounted for.

"We will identify the bodies. We will find out who is still missing -- we don't yet have names for those still missing," he said at the scene of the explosion, CNN Indonesia reported.

"We don't know, however, if those 10 workers were actually in the factory at the time, or whether they may have been ill and not come to work."

Local police official Freddy Yudha said earlier that 34 people had been injured.

The explosion occurred Thursday morning in Tangerang, a satellite city on Jakarta's western outskirts, where there are several industrial parks.

Ten fire trucks were sent to the scene, Muhammad Suhermanto, a local fire and disaster agency official, told CNN Indonesia. He warned that the number of victims could rise.

Images of the factory showed a motorbike burned down to its frame, completely charred. Another showed a body in a bag being taken away.

Officials suspect a fire broke out from an electric short circuit before triggering the explosion.

"There was a large explosion. Our suspicion is that the explosion was triggered by chemical materials inside the factory. And the large explosion was then followed by a smaller one," Suhermanto said.

Indonesia has poor fire-safety standards and industrial fires are not uncommon. It is not the first time a deadly explosion has occurred at a fireworks factory.

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