The fire was first spotted in the town of Paniai in Central Papua province shortly after midnight, and it quickly spread to several shophouses, local police spokesman Henry J. Manurung said. "During the inspection, officers found eleven victims who had died with burn injuries. Of the eleven victims, five of them were adults, while the other six were children”, Henry said in a statement. The children were aged between two and nine years old, he added. The fire, which raged for more than three hours, destroyed at least 40 kiosks and houses, despite the deployment of fire trucks and water cannons. Authorities were still investigating the cause of the fire. "The intensity of the blaze and the fact that the houses and stalls were all packed tightly together made the firefighting process take quite a long time," Henry said. Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia. In December, 22 people died when a fire tore through a seven-story office building in Central Jakarta.  Police said a drone battery that exploded on the ground floor was the likely cause. An explosion at a nickel-processing plant in the country's east in 2023 killed at least twelve people. (Bssnews)