JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian rescuers and firefighters on Saturday looked for attainable victims beneath the rubble of charred homes and buildings after a big hearth broke out at a gasoline storage depot within the capital, killing not less than 15 individuals and leaving 16 others lacking.

The Plumpang gasoline storage station, operated by state-run oil and gasoline firm Pertamina, is close to a densely populated space within the Tanah Merah neighborhood in North Jakarta. It provides 25% of Indonesia’s gasoline wants.

A minimum of 260 firefighters and 52 hearth engines managed to extinguish the blaze simply earlier than midnight on Friday after a fireplace unfold by way of the neighborhood for greater than two hours, hearth officers mentioned. They had been working to safe the world on Saturday.

Video of the hearth broadcast on tv late Friday confirmed lots of of individuals in the neighborhood operating in panic whereas thick plumes of black smoke and orange flames crammed the sky and firefighters battled the blaze.

A preliminary investigation confirmed the hearth broke out when a pipeline ruptured throughout heavy rain, probably from a lightning strike, mentioned Eko Kristiawan, Pertamina’s space supervisor for the western a part of Java.

Residents dwelling close to the depot mentioned they smelled a robust odor of gasoline, inflicting some individuals to vomit, after which thunder rumbled twice, adopted by an enormous explosion round 8 p.m.

Sri Haryati, a mom of three youngsters, mentioned the hearth started to unfold of their neighborhood about 20 minutes later, inflicting sudden panic amongst residents.

“I used to be crying and instantly grabbed our useful paperwork and ran with my husband and kids,” Haryati mentioned.

She mentioned she heard smaller blasts that echoed throughout the residential neighborhood as orange flames jumped from the depot compound and columns of black smoke billowed.

Knowledge from the Indonesian Pink Cross’ command middle mentioned the dying toll had been revised to fifteen from 17 after authorities discovered that some victims had been counted twice. Rescuers continued trying to find 16 individuals who had been reported lacking or separated from their households amid the chaos. About 49 individuals had been receiving therapy in 5 hospitals, a few of them in important situation.

Performing Jakarta Governor Heru Budi Hartono mentioned about 600 displaced individuals had been being taken to non permanent shelters at authorities places of work, a Pink Cross command publish and a sport stadium.

Pertamina’s president director Nicke Widyawati apologized for the incident and mentioned the corporate would offer assist to affected communities.

She mentioned the corporate is working carefully with associated establishments and legislation enforcement to analyze the reason for the hearth on the depot.

“We are going to perform an intensive analysis and reflection internally to forestall related incidents from taking place once more,” Widyawati mentioned in a press release, including that the corporate ensured the availability of gasoline oil can be secure.

The corporate will make the most of gasoline provides from various Pertamina’s gasoline terminals on Java island and assist the Cilacap and Balongan refineries, that are channeled by sea to Tanjung Priok terminal in North Jakarta.

As investigators tried to piece collectively what occurred, grieving kinfolk went to a police hospital’s morgue in japanese Jakarta Saturday morning to determine family members. Officers mentioned all the our bodies had been burned past recognition.

“The situation of corpses made them exhausting to acknowledge … they might solely be recognized by way of DNA and dental knowledge,” mentioned Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, the Jakarta Police spokesperson.

Friday’s hearth was the second massive blaze on the Plumpang gasoline depot. In 2014, a fireplace engulfed not less than 40 close by homes, however no casualties had been reported.

Fahmi Radhi, an power analyst from Gajah Mada College, urged Pertamina and the federal government to instantly transfer the depot away from the close by group settlements.

“Pertamina has been negligent by not utilizing worldwide customary safety programs,” he mentioned in an interview with Kompas TV. He mentioned that because the 2014 hearth there have been no efforts to place such a system in place and that common inspections needs to be carried out to keep away from future fires.

“Pertamina’s board of administrators needs to be held answerable for this deadliest hearth by being dismissed instantly,” Radhi mentioned.

An oil spill in 2018 triggered a fireplace that killed 5 individuals and sickened lots of within the port metropolis of Balikpapan. Authorities mentioned it got here from a damaged pipe that Pertamina was utilizing to switch crude oil.

In March 2021, a fireplace at Cilacap gasoline storage facility on the largest oil refinery on the principle island of Java prompted the evacuation of 80 close by residents and injured not less than 20 individuals. Cilacap is one among six Pertamina refineries with a processing capability of 270,000 barrels a day. Eight months later, greater than 900 individuals had been evacuated after a fireplace broke out on the Pertamina Balongan Refinery in West Java province.