(15 May 1998) Natural Sound
As the continued looting and civil unrest in Jakarta came to a head on Friday at least 100 people were found burned to death when the shopping mall they were looting was torched by a rival gang.
The charred remains of the victims were taken from the building and laid out in the street where distraught relatives tried in vain to identify the bodies.
Compared to the last four days Jakarta was relatively calm on Friday, but a heavy military presence was obvious on the streets.
With the economy still in tatters prices continued to rise for goods and services
and queues formed at petrol stations where fuel is in short supply and prices escalating rapidly.
Jakarta continues to be wracked by the worst rioting in decades.
On Friday the bodies of at least 100 people, most of them thought to have been looters, were found burned to death in a shopping mall in Eastern Jakarta.
It's believed they were trapped on the third floor of the building, after it had been torched by another group of looters.
The inferno raced through the building in the slum area of Kelender, bringing to a head the fourth day of rioting in the capital.
With relatives wailing around them, local residents banded together to take away the bodies burned and blackened beyond recognition.
Although most of the corpses were charred beyond recognition, at least some had been employees at the mall and their bodies still carried their identity cards.
Dozens of people have been reported killed in rioting which has brought Jakarta to a standstill this week, as looters burned shops and houses, tore down road signs and
pillaged banks and offices.
The streets of the capital were relatively calm after the chaos of the last few days, but despite this troops maintained a heavy presence on the streets.
The government's promise to crush rioting with whatever force they deem necessary has been borne out over the last week, and the military are on standby for a possible fresh wave of unrest.
Elsewhere people formed long queues to buy petrol, restricted by the short supply and the crippling price.
The increase in fuel prices was announced earlier this month and triggered off widespread unrest, but it is thought President Suharto is planning to revoke the price hike.
Fuel, along with basic foodstuffs and public transport, has seen astronomical price increases since the collapse of the rupiah and the economic turmoil in Asia.
What started out as a series of demonstrations against the poor handling of the nation's economy has turned into almost universal hatred for its long standing president.
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