Hundreds evacuated as Pertamina fire kills at least 17 in Jakarta

Probe continues to seek out out the reason for the fireplace, however the power firm says a pipe leak was detected earlier than the fireplace.

A resident reacts as he visits his neighbourhood in Jakarta after a fire
A resident reacts as he visits his neighbourhood affected by the fireplace [Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]

Residents have searched by the stays of their charred properties after a gas storage depot fireplace in Jakarta killed a minimum of 17 folks, together with two youngsters.

The hearth, which began at roughly 8pm (01:00 GMT) on Friday from a gas pipe at Pertamina’s Plumpang gas storage depot in capital Jakarta, shortly unfold to close by homes and despatched residents within the densely populated space right into a panic.

Sixty folks have been injured, with many severely burned, whereas a whole bunch extra dwelling in residential areas close to the depot needed to be evacuated.

The North Jakarta Purple Cross stated 342 folks had been evacuated and that 4 tents have been arrange for the displaced.

Three folks have been nonetheless lacking after the blaze, with Indonesian officers the subsequent day calling for an audit of “all gas services and infrastructures” within the nation.

An aerial view of a residential area, after fire broke out at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina
An aerial view of a residential space, after fireplace broke out at a gas storage station operated by Indonesia’s state power firm Pertamina, in Jakarta [Antara Foto/Muhammad Adimadja/via Reuters]

Vice President Ma’ruf Amin visited the scene on Saturday and confirmed 17 folks have been killed and 60 extra injured.

He prompt the depot ought to be moved away from residential neighbourhoods.

“I hope this depot may be relocated … so it is going to be safer and this space might be rearranged so it meets the necessities of a correct neighbourhood within the capital,” he instructed reporters.

Footage broadcast on Friday night time confirmed folks screaming and fleeing by slim roads with an inferno lighting up the sky behind them.

A fireball might be seen throughout the skyline of north Jakarta with sirens wailing within the background.

Abdul Syukur, who additionally lives close by, instructed Kompas TV that residents stated they might odor the gas about half-hour earlier than the fireplace.

“The odor was so sturdy there have been folks throwing up and a few almost fainted,” he stated.

One other witness, Swastono Aji, instructed AFP information company that the odor “was so sturdy that we might hardly breathe”.

“We have been leaving this space after we out of the blue heard a really loud explosion.”

Two men look at burnt cars in Plumpang, north Jakarta on March 4, 2023, after a fire at a nearby state-run fuel storage depot run by energy firm Pertamina. (Photo by ADITYA AJI / AFP)
Two males take a look at burned-out vehicles in Plumpang [Aditya Aji / AFP]

‘Mini apocalypse’

“It was like a bomb, like a mini apocalypse. It was unimaginable,” witness Jamilul Asror, 45, instructed AFP, calling on authorities to relocate residents farther away.

Nationwide Police chief Listyo Sigit, talking on the web site, stated a minimum of three folks have been nonetheless lacking.

High officers have referred to as for a probe into the fireplace’s trigger and an audit of the nation’s power services after a number of current blazes.

“After we had a number of fires … it's clear that we should audit all gas services and infrastructures, particularly tanks and refineries,” Sugeng Suparwoto, head of the parliament’s power fee, instructed native broadcaster Metro TV on Saturday.

In 2021, a large blaze broke out on the Balongan refinery in West Java, additionally owned by Pertamina.

That very same depot noticed fires in 2009 and once more in 2014 – when the flames unfold to 40 homes close by. No casualties have been reported in both of these instances.

The morning after the blaze, properties stacked up in opposition to the barbed-wire fences of the Pertamina facility have been gutted and blackened, with rows of vehicles burned out.

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