Death toll from fire in Indonesia's prison rises to 44

Tangerang prison in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of inmates killed in the fire at a prison in Tangerang, a town near Indonesian capital Jakarta, has risen by three to 44, the Law and Human Rights Ministry reported on Thursday.

"Three people died today after being hospitalized due to severe burns," Rika Aprianti, a spokesperson for the ministry's prison department, told Xinhua.

Currently, five inmates are still under medical treatment at a hospital, including one who broke his leg after jumping from a height of two meters amid the conflagration.

The fire broke out on Wednesday at Block C2 of the overcrowded prison, which held up to 2,072 inmates with the designed capacity of 600 people.

The fire spread in locked detention rooms and killed 41 people on the same day, including two prisoners from South Africa and Portugal. Medics struggled to identify the bodies because of the serious burns.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said on Wednesday that it's suspected that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.