A fire broke out at the fuel storage station of Indonesia’s government energy company Pertamina, in the capital Jakarta on Friday. At least 17 people died.
The fire started at 8 p.m. (11 a.m.) local time. ET) set fire to some houses, sending nearby residents panicking. Some fled with their belongings.
Pertamina spokeswoman said that the fire was extinguished about two hours later.
Officials from the fire department said that residents could still see fire around their homes after the incident.
Rahmat Kristanto, an official with the firefighting division, said that two of the victims were children. 50 others were also injured, including one child.
According to Jakarta’s acting governor Herubudi Hartono, most of the injured suffered from burns. The government will cover their treatment.
Shortly after the fire started explosions were heard in footage posted on social media. However, Reuters could not authenticate the clips.
Residents crowded around the storage station while firefighters carried orange body bags. According to Jakarta’s disaster-mitigation office, residents were evacuated into nearby mosques.
Siswandi (21-year-old resident) said that the scene was chaotic as he ran away with injured victims who were partially burned and it caused panic among people.” He also stated that he was removing all his valuable documents from his home.
Jakarta’s main fire station called and said 51 units had been dispatched to Plumpang in North Jakarta. They also stated that the fire was large.
Pertamina stated in a statement, that the incident’s cause was still being investigated. He also said that evacuation efforts were ongoing.
According to the company, the fuel supply for Jakarta was secure and it plans to divert fuel from other terminals.
Nicke Widyawati, chief executive officer of Pertamina, apologized for the fire and stated that it would “reflect internally in order to prevent similar incidents from ever happening again”.
According to the energy ministry of the country, the fuel station can hold more than 300,000 kilolitres.
