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Indonesia firefighters extinguish days-long oil refinery inferno
JAKARTA, March 31, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Indonesian firefighters on Wednesday
extinguished a large blaze at one of the country’s biggest oil refineries
that had been burning for more than two days after an explosion.
Crews blasted fire-suppressing foam to quench the flames at two storage
tankers after the inferno seriously injured at least six people early Monday.
Thick plumes of black smoke shot into the sky at the Balongan refinery
in West Java, owned by state oil company Pertamina.
The huge fire was eventually put out on Wednesday afternoon, the firm
said.
“(The company) will continue to cool and monitor the tanks,” Pertamina
spokesman Agus Suprijanto said.
“Hopefully the cooling process will go smoothly and we can resume
operations.”
About a thousand locals have been evacuated from the area.
The cause of the fire was not clear, but the company said the blaze
began during a lightning storm.
The local disaster agency said one person had died from a heart attack
after the explosion.
Six severely wounded people have been hospitalised in the capital
Jakarta, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the sprawling plant, which
opened in the mid-1990s and can refine about 125,000 barrels of oil a day.
At least 30 others sustained minor injuries.
Pertamina has insisted the fire is not likely to cause fuel supply
disruptions due to a high volume of stock.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1842 hrs