A massive fire broke out at a state-run fuel storage depot on Friday that left at least 16 people dead and around 50 injured, according to officials, before firefighters were able to put it out.
The Plumpang fuel storage station, operated by state-run oil and gas company Pertamina, is near a densely populated area in the Tanah Merah neighborhood in North Jakarta that supplies 25% of Indonesia's fuel needs.
According to the North Jakarta fire service, many were forced to leave in fear from residential areas close to the fuel storage depot as a result of the blaze.
The incident claimed the lives of 16 individuals, including two children, and at least 50 were injured with severe burns, department chief Satriadi Gunawan said Agence France-Presse (AFP).
It was unclear what ignited the fire, which broke out after 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT). Several hours after it first began, the fire was put out, according to army chief of staff Dudung Abdurachman, declaring, "The fire is already out."
The military commander and Pertamina said they were looking into the situation. "Pertamina is focusing on controlling the fire and transferring workers and civilians close to a safer spot," the company's statement read.
Chief Executive Nicke Widyawati of the oil and gas company declared that the company will "perform a complete internal examination to prevent the reoccurrence of a similar catastrophe."
She said that the nation's gasoline supply had not been compromised and had been kept secure by backup supplies from the closest accessible ports.
Heru stated that the Indonesian government would help pay for the injured's medical care due to the second fire in recent memory. The nation's minister of state-owned enterprises, Erick Thohir, sent his condolences to the families of the deceased and injured.
"We are all saddened by this tragedy," he said in a statement, calling on Pertamina to fully investigate the incident. Footage broadcast on TV showed people screaming and fleeing through narrow roads with a raging inferno in the sky behind them.
Firefighters were also shown rushing to the scene to control the blaze as ambulance workers transported body bags to hospitals.
Gunawan claimed that when firefighters first learned that a pipe had broken at the depot, officers acted immediately to prevent the blaze from spreading to surrounding residential areas.
The Plumpang depot in north Jakarta has received 51 units and more than 250 firefighters, according to Jakarta's main fire station.
One of Indonesia's largest oil refineries, the Balongan refinery in West Java, which is also controlled by the national oil corporation Pertamina, experienced a catastrophic fire in 2021. After a large explosion, the fire raged for two days and forced many to flee.
