Two youngsters are among the many victims and 50 different individuals have been admitted to hospital, some with extreme burns, fireplace official says.
A fireplace at a gasoline depot in Indonesia’s capital has killed a minimum of 17 individuals, injured dozens of others and compelled the evacuation of 1000’s of close by residents.
Officers mentioned a minimum of 260 firefighters and 52 fireplace engines had been struggling to include the blaze on Friday at a gasoline storage station operated by state-run oil and fuel firm Pertamina, close to a densely populated space within the Tanah Merah neighborhood in North Jakarta.
Satriadi Gunawan, who heads Jakarta’s fireplace and rescue division, mentioned individuals residing within the residential space had been nonetheless being evacuated and had been being taken to a close-by village corridor and a mosque.
“The fireplace precipitated a number of explosions and shortly unfold to residential homes,” Gunawan mentioned.
He mentioned a minimum of 17 individuals had been lifeless, together with two youngsters, and 50 had been hospitalised, some with extreme burns.
A preliminary investigation confirmed the fireplace broke out when a pipeline ruptured throughout heavy rain, probably from a lightning strike, mentioned Eko Kristiawan, Pertamina’s space supervisor.
Whereas the station provides 25 p.c of Indonesia’s gasoline wants, he mentioned the fireplace wouldn’t disrupt the nation’s gasoline provide.
Indonesia’s minister of state-owned enterprises, Erick Thohir, expressed his condolences to the victims and their households and ordered Pertamina to totally examine the fireplace and concentrate on shortly helping the neighborhood.
“There should be an operational analysis sooner or later. I will proceed to observe this case,” Thohir mentioned in a video assertion.
Pertamina chief government officer Nicke Widyawati apologized for the fireplace and mentioned it will “mirror internally to keep away from comparable incidents from ever occurring once more”.
The gasoline station has a capability of greater than 300,000 kilolitres, in accordance with the nation’s power ministry.
