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A family of three, consisting of 44-year-old Buyung, his 28-year-old wife Desti, and their four-year-old son Chandra, was found dead in a parked car on Jalan Bekasi Barat I in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, at 5:30 am.
The police suspect that the family died because they were poisoned by the toxic fumes emitted by a mosquito coil, which burned inside the confined space in the car.
“After investigating the scene, the [car’s] AC was dead, the engine was dead, but there was the remains of a burnt mosquito coil under Buyung’s foot. Currently we suspect they died from mosquito coil poisoning,” said East Jakarta Police Deputy Chief Abrar Tuntalanai, as quoted by Kompas today.
It is believed that Buyung was a ‘batu akik’ gemstone merchant, who traded out of his car on Jalan Bekasi Barat I. Another batu akik street seller, Andri, said Buyung’s family often slept in their car at night before they open up shop in the morning, as is the common practice in the trade.
“There are a lot of mosquitoes around here because it’s so close to sewers,” Andri said, as quoted by Tempo.
The bodies were taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital for an autopsy. The car, a Daihatsu Granmax, was taken to the Jatinegara police station for further investigation.
