Six teenagers practising for a dance show were killed yesterday in Indonesia when a neighbouring warehouse suddenly collapsed, crushing the long-established community arts centre they were in.
Seven died in all, including the six boys aged between 13 and 15 and the centre’s 48-year-old manager, police said.
The accident happened in the Javan port city of Cirebon (pictured), about 220 kilometres east of Jakarta, reports news agency AFP.
"A nine-metre tall building…suddenly collapsed onto the art centre right next to it," police spokesman Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko told AFP.
"The art centre also collapsed immediately and buried some children," the police chief said.
Two 13-year-old girls were also injured, with one in a critical condition, police added.
The art centre had been operating since around the 1940s.
"The building is very old, but we still need to ask experts to determine the cause of the collapse," police told AFP.
Indonesia is currently in the grip of a crisis in built environment safety.
In January at least 73 people were injured by the collapse of a mezzanine walkway at the Jakarta stock exchange building.
In February the government halted all major transport projects after a spate of fatal accidents.
A subsequent report found that 80% of construction projects in the capital Jakarta were unsafe and breached regulations.
