Indonesia’s Public Works Ministry has released the findings of their preliminary investigation into the collapse of a mezzanine floor in a tower of the Indonesia Stock Exchange complex in SCBD, South Jakarta on Monday.
Their report, which was released to the press, said that initial investigations indicated the concentrated weight of a group of people on one specific point of the walkway caused a support cable to snap, which then led others to snap, causing the collapse of the floor within moments.
The ministry recommended that further investigation into the building’s maintenance records be undertaken. The mezzanine floor’s support cables were the same first installed in the building when it was constructed 1998.
The tower’s management say they have complied with routine checks as required by regulations, the last of which was carried out in May 2017.
A final report on the full investigation into the collapse by the government is not expected to be available for weeks.
“We have to say that [the preliminary] report is just an initial report put together by the Public Works Ministry staff and it’s still unofficial,” said the ministry’s Public Relations Department in a statement, as quoted by Detik yesterday.
A mezzanine floor at the tower in the sprawling city’s business district collapsed shortly before lunchtime Monday, injuring a total of 73 people, police said, adding that there were no deaths.
Dramatic CCTV footage showed a group of about 40 visiting students on a balcony section plunge as the floor gave way with a cascade of glass, metal and other material crashing onto the ground floor where several others were walking.
Authorities have ruled out the collapse as a result of a terrorist attack — the tower was bombed by Islamist militants in 2000, leaving at least 10 dead and dozens injured.
