Hundreds evacuated as Pertamina fire kills at least 17 in Jakarta
Residents have searched through the remains of their charred homes after a fuel storage depot fire in Jakarta killed at least 17 people, including two children.
The fire, which started at approximately 8pm (01:00 GMT) on Friday from a fuel pipe at Pertamina’s Plumpang fuel storage depot in capital Jakarta, quickly spread to nearby houses and sent residents in the densely populated area into a panic.
Sixty people were injured, with many severely burned, while hundreds more living in residential areas near the depot had to be evacuated.
The North Jakarta Red Cross said 342 people had been evacuated and that four tents were set up for the displaced.
Three people were still missing after the blaze, with Indonesian officials the next day calling for an audit of “all fuel facilities and infrastructures” in the country.
He suggested the depot should be moved away from residential neighbourhoods.
“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 neighbourhood in the capital,” he told reporters.