Jakarta guv says six dead in Indonesia post-poll unrest

Investigators work at the scene of cars set on fire by protesters at Brimob (Mobile Police) Dormitory Complex in Petamburan, Jakarta, Indonesia on May 22, 2019. REUTERS

JAKARTA – Six people died in civil unrest that gripped parts of Jakarta on Tuesday night after the election commission confirmed that President Joko Widodo won last month’s election, the governor of the Indonesian capital said.

Protests on Tuesday by supporters of Widodo’s challenger for the presidency, former general Prabowo Subianto, started peacefully but turned violent in the evening, forcing police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd.

“As per 9 o’clock this morning, there were 200 people hurt being brought to five hospitals,” Governor Anies Baswedan told broadcaster TVOne. “The number of people dead was six.”

He said hospitals were conducting post-mortems to determine the cause of the deaths. (Reuters)

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