Zürcher Nachrichten - At least 19 dead after clash, fire at club in Indonesia's West Papua

EUR -
AED 3.829665
AFN 73.124937
ALL 98.671597
AMD 412.950691
ANG 1.876092
AOA 950.893358
ARS 1066.519947
AUD 1.66985
AWG 1.876763
AZN 1.768751
BAM 1.958611
BBD 2.101816
BDT 124.398516
BGN 1.961207
BHD 0.392199
BIF 3078.217348
BMD 1.042646
BND 1.41453
BOB 7.193323
BRL 6.648748
BSD 1.040994
BTN 88.610159
BWP 14.457747
BYN 3.406689
BYR 20435.86617
BZD 2.094706
CAD 1.495833
CDF 2992.39459
CHF 0.923263
CLF 0.037382
CLP 1031.479634
CNY 7.609756
CNH 7.617798
COP 4580.720255
CRC 528.5585
CUC 1.042646
CUP 27.630125
CVE 110.423461
CZK 25.213254
DJF 185.376021
DKK 7.479841
DOP 63.410997
DZD 140.599492
EGP 52.925809
ERN 15.639693
ETB 132.543204
FJD 2.417532
FKP 0.825757
GBP 0.831489
GEL 2.929895
GGP 0.825757
GHS 15.301959
GIP 0.825757
GMD 75.070472
GNF 8996.910876
GTQ 8.018507
GYD 217.79254
HKD 8.098958
HNL 26.448955
HRK 7.478803
HTG 136.11533
HUF 412.012008
IDR 16871.162963
ILS 3.805904
IMP 0.825757
INR 89.0337
IQD 1363.656894
IRR 43882.378225
ISK 145.500924
JEP 0.825757
JMD 162.192752
JOD 0.739547
JPY 164.035366
KES 134.543357
KGS 90.709698
KHR 4184.00419
KMF 486.003444
KPW 938.381027
KRW 1518.620823
KWD 0.321323
KYD 0.867545
KZT 539.283891
LAK 22765.669517
LBP 93219.873719
LKR 306.800269
LRD 189.461884
LSL 19.356377
LTL 3.078663
LVL 0.630686
LYD 5.110334
MAD 10.497765
MDL 19.206562
MGA 4910.046085
MKD 61.524778
MMK 3386.474294
MNT 3542.911765
MOP 8.327751
MRU 41.555634
MUR 49.07729
MVR 16.078621
MWK 1805.090367
MXN 21.047639
MYR 4.678398
MZN 66.628983
NAD 19.356377
NGN 1606.884965
NIO 38.304969
NOK 11.839112
NPR 141.776454
NZD 1.846977
OMR 0.400329
PAB 1.040994
PEN 3.876363
PGK 4.225063
PHP 61.161284
PKR 289.809186
PLN 4.272871
PYG 8118.650542
QAR 3.786033
RON 4.988333
RSD 116.996577
RUB 103.976124
RWF 1452.183934
SAR 3.914406
SBD 8.741082
SCR 14.865032
SDG 627.148703
SEK 11.552916
SGD 1.408193
SHP 0.825757
SLE 23.765491
SLL 21863.773344
SOS 594.953779
SRD 36.553098
STD 21580.671932
SVC 9.109072
SYP 2619.680194
SZL 19.364789
THB 35.543468
TJS 11.388343
TMT 3.659688
TND 3.319263
TOP 2.441978
TRY 36.689814
TTD 7.074152
TWD 34.098599
TZS 2523.812801
UAH 43.648437
UGX 3810.468153
USD 1.042646
UYU 46.336494
UZS 13439.285837
VES 53.775059
VND 26514.493709
VUV 123.785049
WST 2.88061
XAF 656.899674
XAG 0.035236
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.817804
XDR 0.798145
XOF 656.899674
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.052517
ZAR 19.454142
ZMK 9385.066686
ZMW 28.809342
ZWL 335.731662
  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

At least 19 dead after clash, fire at club in Indonesia's West Papua
At least 19 dead after clash, fire at club in Indonesia's West Papua

At least 19 dead after clash, fire at club in Indonesia's West Papua

At least 19 people have been killed in a clash at a nightclub in Indonesia's West Papua province, police said Tuesday, with most dying after the venue caught fire.

Text size:

One victim was stabbed and 18 more died in the blaze at the Double O nightclub in the city of Sorong, officials said.

"The clash broke out last night (Monday) at 11 pm. It was a prolonged conflict from a clash on Saturday," Sorong police chief Ary Nyoto Setiawan said in a statement.

The fight erupted between two ethnic groups and involved machetes, arrows and Molotov cocktails, according to Ahmad Ramadhan, a spokesperson for the Indonesian national police.

"The West Papua Regional Police immediately coordinated with religious and traditional leaders to avoid further clashes," he said, adding that officials were investigating who was behind the fight and what ignited the fire.

Most of the victims worked at the club, police said.

"Based on our initial data, three victims were nightclub visitors while the others were band members, including a vocalist, and other employees," said West Papua police spokesperson Adam Erwindi.

The nightclub, a large red and white building, was left gutted by the blaze and a burnt-out vehicle was seen lying on its side by the blackened entrance.

"The club was burnt from the first floor," police chief Setiawan said. "We tried to evacuate as many people as possible, but after the firefighters extinguished the fire this morning, we found some bodies there."

A misunderstanding sparked the fight between the two groups, Setiawan said.

"We tried to mediate between the groups, as we called their leaders before last night's clash."

Police have deployed forces in the town to prevent any further clashes, according to an AFP journalist.

- Usually quiet corner -

Sorong, a gateway to the coral-rich Raja Ampat islands, is the largest city in West Papua province and home to a major port.

It is relatively quiet compared to other regions of West Papua, which has seen clashes due to a long-running insurgency between separatists and Indonesian security forces.

Rebels have recently escalated their fight, targeting road contractors as well as schools and clinics they say have links to the military. Authorities have responded by reinforcing deployments of troops and police.

The province shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia.

A former Dutch colony, mineral-rich West Papua declared independence in 1961 but neighbouring Indonesia took control two years later, promising a referendum.

The subsequent vote in favour of staying part of Indonesia, approved by the United Nations at the time, was widely considered a sham.

The region's Melanesian population, predominantly Christian, share few cultural connections with the rest of Indonesia -- the world's biggest Muslim-majority country.

U.Ammann--NZN