Indonesians search charred homes after fuel depot fire kills 17

Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP):

Residents searched through the remains of their charred homes Saturday after a fuel storage depot fire in Jakarta left at least 17 people dead, including two children.

After Friday night’s blaze at state energy firm Pertamina’s Plumpang depot in north Jakarta, Indonesian officials called for an audit of “all fuel facilities and infrastructures” in the country.

Fifty people were injured, with many left with severe burns, and hundreds more living in residential areas near the depot had to be evacuated, the Jakarta fire and rescue department said.

“It started with a very strong smell. It was so strong that we could hardly breathe,” witness Swastono Aji told AFP.

“Then we were leaving this area when we suddenly heard a very loud explosion.”

Top officials including the minister responsible for state-owned firms like Pertamina called for a probe into the fire’s cause and an audit of the country’s energy facilities after several fires in recent years.

“After we had multiple fires… it is clear that we must audit all fuel facilities and infrastructures, especially tanks and refineries,” Sugeng Suparwoto, head of the parliament’s energy commission, told local broadcaster Metro TV on Saturday.

In 2021, a massive blaze broke out at the Balongan refinery in West Java, also owned by state oil company Pertamina.

That same depot had seen fires in 2009 and in 2014.

“I instructed Pertamina to immediately investigate this case and we are now focusing on helping the people. There must be an operational evaluation in the future,” Minister of State Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir said in an Instagram post late Friday.

The morning after, homes stacked up against the barbed wire walls of the Pertamina facility were gutted and blackened, with rows of cars burned out.

One child stood in the middle of the debris, surveying the scorched scene in front of him as emergency workers evacuated one of the dead in a body bag.

‘Completely destroyed’

Footage broadcast Friday night showed people screaming and fleeing through narrow roads with an inferno lighting up the sky behind them.

A fireball could be seen across the skyline of north Jakarta with sirens wailing in the background as ambulances and fire trucks rushed to get through narrow roads around the facility.

The military and Pertamina said they were investigating the cause of the tragedy.

The oil and gas firm’s chief executive Nicke Widyawati said the country’s fuel supply had not been disrupted, remaining secure through backup supplies from the nearest available terminals.

The cause of the fire — which started around 8 pm local time (1300 GMT) — remains unclear but Jakarta fire and rescue department chief Satriadi Gunawan said firefighters initially received reports a pipe had burst at the depot.

Jakarta’s acting governor Heru Budi Hartono said the government would pay for the treatment of the injured.

The North Jakarta Red Cross office said 342 people had been evacuated there and it had set up four tents for the displaced.

Mother-of-one Linda said she had lost everything after fleeing with just the clothes on her back and her family.

“I can’t return home because it is completely destroyed,” she told Metro TV.

“I don’t even know what state it is in, and I don’t know where to go now.”