Dozens were injured and hundreds were evacuated after a fire at a storage facility of state energy company Pertamina
Published : 04 Mar 2023, 08:24 AM
Indonesianofficialscalled for an investigation and anauditof state energy companyPertamina'sfacilitiesafterafireat its storage facility killed13.
Thefire, whichstarted at around 8 pm(0100 GMT) on Friday from a fuel pipe atPertamina's Plumpang fuel storage depot in capital Jakarta, quickly spread to nearby houses and sent residents in the densely populated area into panic.
Authorities initially put the death toll at 17 but revised it later to13. Dozens were injured and hundreds were evacuated.
Thefirehad been extinguished by early morning hours on Saturday, North Jakartafirefighter official Abdul Wahid said.
"I have orderedPertaminato immediately investigate this case thoroughly," State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir said via his Instagram page.
"There must be an operational review," he added.
Sugeng Suparwoto, who heads parliament's energy committee,called for anauditofPertamina's facilities.
"All facilities, whether refineries or storage, must beaudited again," he said on KompasTV, noting thatPertaminaoften hadfireincidents at its facilities.
In 2021, a majorfirebroke out atPertamina's refineries in Balongan and Cilacap.
Sugeng also said there should be a bigger distance betweenPertamina's storage facilities and residential areas. "For a facility with Plumpang's capacity, there should be at least one to two kilometres distance with residential area."
Plumpang, with a storage capacity of over 300,000 kilo litres, is one ofPertamina's biggest fuel terminals.
Dense residential area stands outside the Plumpang's outer wall, separated only by a narrow street, a witness said.
Local residents could smell the fuel around 30 minutes before thefire, Abdul Syukur, who lives nearby, told KompasTV.
"The smell was so strong there were people throwing up and some nearly fainted," he said.
CEO Nicke Widyawati saidPertaminawill launch an internal review, while ensuring that Jakarta's fuel supply will remain secure as the company diverts supplies from other terminals.