JAKARTA, SEPT 16: Thousands of rioters stormed through an East Sumatra city last night torching hundreds of homes, shops, and hotels in the latest round of disturbances to strike the troubled country, police and news reports said today.Lieutenant Colonel Luther Harefa, police chief of the Bengkalis district of Riau province, said the coastal city of Bagansiapi-Api was burning through the morning. He said the town lacked fire-fighting equipment.``The situation of Bagansiapi-Api is under control. There are no more incidents of mobs burning shops and homes. But the fire has not yet been put out because there is no fire extinguisher here,'' Harefa said in a television interview.He said about 3,000 angry people went on rampage and estimated that as many as 400 homes, shops, hotels, markets, and government offices were set ablaze by the rioters.There were no immediate reports of casualties or arrests in Bagansiapi-Api, which is located near one of the richest fishing grounds in Indonesia.Harefa saidthe rioting was triggered by a minor traffic accident three days back involving two indigenous residents and two ethnic Chinese. One of the Sumatrans had to be hospitalised. Rumours spread that the victim had died, which sparked anger against the ethnic Chinese community.Ethnic-Chinese Indonesians, the country's most successful minority group, have been the frequent target of attacks around the country.SUHARTO FACES PROBE: Indonesia today announced it would investigate the wealth of former president Suharto as protests and rioting spread through the increasingly impoverished country of 200 million. ``The government has set up a team to probe Suharto's personal wealth and the wealth of those linked to him,'' attorney general Muhammad Ghalib told reporters.Some estimates say that Suharto and his family amassed up to $ 30 billion during his 32-year rule which came to an abrupt end in May amid the economic collapse and violent protests.Suharto, mostly out of the public eye since his downfall onMay 21, went on local television just over a week ago to deny accusations that he had stashed a fortune overseas.But Austrian newspapers said last month that a $ 7 billion increase in bank deposits there in the first quarter of 1998 could be partly due to the Suharto family moving wealth out of Indonesia.
