At least 11 people, including six children, have died after a fire tore through a market and nearby buildings in Paniai, Central Papua province, Indonesia.

The blaze broke out shortly after midnight on Monday and spread quickly through tightly packed kiosks and houses.

Local police said officers found the victims after firefighters brought the fire under control. Five of the dead were adults and six were children aged between two and nine years old. All of the victims suffered burn injuries.

The fire burned for more than three hours and destroyed at least 40 kiosks and houses. Firefighters used trucks and water cannons in an effort to contain the blaze, but the close arrangement of the buildings made the work difficult.

Police spokesman Henry J. Manurung said the intensity of the blaze and the tightly packed structures caused the firefighting operation to take a long time. Authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of the fire, which had not yet been determined at the time of the report.

Deadly fires have occurred in Indonesia in the past. In December, a fire at a seven-storey office building in Central Jakarta killed 22 people, while an explosion at a nickel-processing facility in 2023 claimed at least 12 lives.

Photo credit:The Sun Nigeria