Jakarta residents yesterday searched through the remains of their charred homes after a fuel storage depot fire left at least 17 people dead, including two children.
Three people were still missing after Friday night’s blaze at state energy firm PT Pertamina’s Plumpang depot in north Jakarta, with Indonesian officials yesterday calling for an audit of “all fuel facilities and infrastructures” in the country.
Sixty people were injured, with many severely burned, while hundreds more living in residential areas near the depot had to be evacuated.
Photo: AFP
“It started with a very strong smell. It was so strong that we could hardly breathe,” witness Swastono Aji said. “Then we were leaving this area when we suddenly heard a very loud explosion.”
Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin yesterday visited the scene and confirmed that 17 people were killed and 60 more were injured.
He said that the depot should be moved away from residential neighborhoods.
“I hope this depot can be relocated ... so it will be safer and this area will be rearranged so it meets the requirements of a proper neighborhood in the capital,” he told reporters.
Indonesian National Police Chief Listyo Sigit, also speaking at the site, said that at least three people were still missing.
Top officials have called for a probe into the fire’s cause and an audit of the country’s energy facilities after several recent blazes.
“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.
In 2021, a massive blaze broke out at the Balongan refinery in West Java, also owned by Pertamina and one of Indonesia’s biggest such facilities.
That same depot saw fires in 2009 and again in 2014 — when the flames spread to 40 houses nearby. No casualties were reported in either of those cases.
The morning after Friday’s blaze, homes stacked up against the barbed wire fences of the Pertamina facility were gutted and blackened, with rows of vehicles burned out.
One child stood in the middle of the debris, surveying the scorched scene as emergency workers removed a body.
“It was like a bomb, it was like a mini apocalypse. It was unimaginable,” witness Jamilul Asror said.
Footage broadcast on 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.
The military and Pertamina said they were investigating the cause of the tragedy, while Satriadi Gunawan, chief of Jakarta’s fire and rescue service, said firefighters initially received reports a pipe had burst at the depot.
Pertamina CEO Nicke Widyawati said the country’s fuel supply had not been disrupted.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS