A young family and their nanny were killed by electrocution from a suspected malfunctioning water heater in East Jakarta on Sunday, police said.
The victims were identified as Pulogadung residents, comprising a father, mother, their one-year-old child, and a babysitter.
According to the police, at 4pm yesterday, the mother was bathing her baby using an electric water heater.
“All of a sudden, there was [a surge from] an electric short circuit. Our initial suspicion is it came from the water heater,” Pulogadung Police Chief Commissioner David Ricardo said today.
Hearing the mother’s scream, the babysitter then rushed to the bathroom and got electrocuted. Immediately after, the father ran to the bathroom and also got electrocuted.
Sadly, all four died immediately.
When police arrived at the scene, they noticed that the water heater was scorched, as it likely caught on fire after the short circuit.
Police say they are conducting a thorough investigation to confirm the faulty water heater theory.
