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Jakarta. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday that he would demand accountability for the deadly rioting that has engulfed Buol, Central Sulawesi, since police fired into a crowd of protesters, killing six and wounding 23 others.

The president said the governor of Central Sulawesi, Banjela Paliudju, and the head of Buol district, Amran Batalipu, needed to provide answers to how the situation could spiral out of control to the point that angry mobs were roaming the streets in search of police officers, and the officers themselves were preparing to pull out of the area.

“If the apparatus was functioning properly in the region, this would not be happening,” Yudhoyono said, following rioting that has claimed at least six lives, according to police.

“I shall demand both the governor and the district head account for [this rioting]. I will also ask what is being done by the military to deal with this issue.

“The governor, district head and the urban ward leader must be able to communicate with the locals. The military there must work with the police,” the president said.

The death of a motorcycle taxi driver in police custody on Monday led to protesters pelting the police station with stones and Molotov cocktails a day later. Police opened fire on the crowd and the riots ensued.

“This has become too big. It cannot be accepted. I will demand accountability from all the parties,” Yudhoyono said.

As of press time, rioters in Buol were continuing to vandalize and burn the homes of police officers, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto said.

Marwoto said that police officers and their families were being evacuated from the area to prevent further violence.

“We have instructed all our police officers to not go back into the field, since conditions are still dangerous. The people there are still unable to accept the presence of police officers,” Marwoto said on Thursday.

“The conditions, particularly at night, are not only fragile, but worsening. Protesters are sweeping the streets in search of police officers,” he said.

“Mobs are taking valuables from the homes of police officers, and then burning the homes down. They are also demanding that the Buol district head step down.”

Another police spokesman, Iskandar Hasan, said the shootings were under investigation.

“I have not received information from the Central Sulawesi deputy police chief [Comr. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani]. But for sure, firm action will be taken against anybody guilty in the shootings,” Iskandar said.

Meanwhile, Haris Azhar, from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said on Thursday that the number of deaths as a result of Tuesday’s police action was seven and not the six that was stated by police.

“Two of the three people in critical condition have already died,” Haris said.