Fire at Indonesia's Pertamina fuel storage station kills 17

Record ID: 1713502

  • Title: Fire at Indonesia's Pertamina fuel storage station kills 17
  • Date: 3rd March 2023
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (MARCH 3, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FIRE AT THE PERTAMINA FUEL STORAGE STATION VARIOUS OF FIRE TRUCK IN NARROW ALLEY, PEOPLE WALKING IN THE ALLEY (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) 40-YEAR-OLD RESIDENT, JAMALUDDIN, SAYING: “I was checking the site (in Pertamina storage) but there was no fire at the time but people were running away and said they smelled gas, and after that, all of a sudden (we heard) ‘boom’, an explosion. And that was the fire. We asked people to keep calm and be vigilant.” RESCUERS CARRYING BODY BAG VARIOUS OF BODY BAGS AT THE MAKESHIFT COMMAND CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) 21-YEAR-OLD RESIDENT, SISWANDI, SAYING: “It was chaotic, because we were running away with a few injured victims who were half burned, and it caused panic among people.” JOURNALIST ASKING: “Were you running from the fire?” SISWANDI: “I was taking all valuable documents from my house and driving my motorbike.” RESCUERS CARRYING A BODY BAG FIREFIGHTER STANDING NEXT TO A TALLY BOARD INFORMATION ON TALLY BOARD
  • Embargoed: 17th March 2023 16:34
  • Keywords: Indonesia Jakarta Pertamina fire oil state energy
  • Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
  • City: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Disaster/Accidents,Fires
  • Reuters ID: LVA001464603032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: At least 17 people were killed when a fire broke out on Friday (March 3) at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina in the capital Jakarta, an official at the city's main firefighting unit said.
    The fire, which started after 8 p.m. local time (1300 GMT), burned some houses and sent nearby residents in the densely populated areas into a panic, some of whom fled with their belongings, footage from broadcasters showed.
    A Pertamina spokesperson said late on Friday that the fire had been extinguished at about 10.30 p.m.
    Fire was still seen around residents' houses after that, a firefighting station official said on the unit's Instagram account.
    Two of the fatalities were children, while 50 people were injured including one child, according to Rahmat Kristanto, an official at the firefighting unit.
    Most of the injured people suffered from burns and the government will pay for their medical treatment, Jakarta's acting governor Heru Budi Hartono told reporters.
    Near the storage station, residents crowded the area while firefighters carried orange body bags from the fire. Jakarta's disaster-mitigation agency said residents had been evacuated into nearby mosques.
    Siswandi, a 21-year-old resident, said the scene "was chaotic, as we were running away alongside injured victims who were half burned, and it caused panic among people," adding that he was taking all of his valuable documents from his house.
    The call centre of Jakarta's main fire station said it had dispatched 51 units to the Plumpang area in North Jakarta, adding that the fire was huge.
    Pertamina said in a statement that the cause of the incident was still being investigated and that evacuation efforts were ongoing.
    The company said the fuel supply for the Jakarta area remained secure as it planned to divert supply from other terminals.
    Pertamina chief executive officer Nicke Widyawati apologised for the fire and said it would "reflect internally to avoid similar incidents from ever occurring again."
    The fuel station has a capacity of over 300,000 kilo-litres, according to the country's energy ministry.
    (Production: Johan Purnomo, Yuddy Cahya Budiman, Angie Teo)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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