Two Warehouses Burn, One Warehouse Head Dies
A massive fire engulfed two shophouses (ruko) being used as warehouses on Jalan Bumi Ayu Raya, Bumi Ayu Village, Selebar District, Bengkulu City, on Thursday night (22/10/2026) at around 23.41 WIB. The growing flames spread from a snack warehouse to an adjacent flour warehouse.
The fire department deployed 10 personnel with a total of 12 vehicles to the location and immediately carried out localization to prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings. The fire was successfully extinguished at around 03.00 WIB on Friday (23/10/2026), after which the handling of the location was handed over to the police.
On Friday morning, officers found a man dead inside one of the warehouses, lying near the stairs leading to the toilet. The victim was identified as Febriansyah, the warehouse head tasked with guarding the warehouse. Police are still investigating the cause of the fire as well as the sequence of events that led to the victim being found dead at the scene.
Viral Video of Looting, 12 People Detained
After the fire was extinguished, the scene of the blaze was instead marked by residents taking items from the warehouse. In a video that went viral on social media, several people were seen breaking through police lines and carrying off large quantities of snacks, even using sacks.
Some residents chose to return the items they had taken after being reprimanded by other residents, but others still carried away strings of snack packets from inside the warehouse after the fire.
Following up on the circulating video, the Criminal Investigation Operational Unit of the Selebar Police Precinct moved in and detained 12 people suspected of being involved on Friday (23/10/2026) at around 16.00 WIB. They came from diverse backgrounds — housewives, casual daily laborers, to students, including minors. Police also seized a number of snacks suspected to have been taken from the scene.
Status Still Suspected, Investigation Continues
Police are still investigating the role of each of the 12 people detained to determine their involvement. "The incident cannot yet be declared a proven criminal act of looting," as emphasized in the report, so the presumption of innocence remains paramount for the suspects.
Selebar Police Chief AKP Bayu Heri confirmed the discovery of a body at the fire scene and stated that the investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing. "Items remaining after the fire remain under the authority of their owner," read the advisory emerging from this case.
This case serves as a reminder for residents not to take items from disaster sites without the owner's permission and to continue complying with the security lines set up by authorities.
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