Indonesia Fire: At least 14 people have died and dozens have been injured in a fire at a fuel storage depot in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. According to the AP report, the people around the fuel storage depot have been evacuated.
Local officials informed that a major fire broke out at a fuel storage depot on Friday (March 3) in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate from the place where the fire broke out.
180 firemen and 37 fire engines are present
The fuel storage is operated by the country’s oil and gas company Pertamina. This fuel station is located near a densely populated area in the Tanah Merah neighborhood in North Jakarta. Oil and gas company Pertamina alone supplies 25 percent of Indonesia’s fuel needs. Local fire officials present at the scene said that at least 180 firefighters and 37 fire engines are battling to bring the blaze under control in the nearby area.
Pipe burst due to lightning
Video of the fire broadcast on Indonesian television showed hundreds of people nearby running in panic, while thick plumes of black smoke and flames filled the sky and firefighters brought the blaze under control. Pertamina area manager Eko Kristiawan said preliminary investigations showed a pipeline burst during heavy rains caused the fire. Along with this, it is also feared that the pipe burst due to lightning. He said the fire would not disrupt the country’s fuel supply.
taken to the village hall and a mosque
Satriyadi Gunwan, head of Jakarta’s fire and rescue department, said people living in the residential area were being evacuated and taken to a nearby village hall and a mosque. Gunvan, the head of the rescue department, said the fire had several explosions and quickly spread to residential homes. Army chief General Dudung Abdurchaman, who visited the scene, said 14 people had been killed and 42 had been hospitalised, some with serious burns.
