At least 16 people were killed when a massive fire broke out at a fuel storage station run by Indonesia’s state energy company Pertamina, an official with the main fire brigade in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, said on Friday.
The fire started just after 8:00 pm local time.
Footage broadcast by radio stations local time (1300 GMT) showed some homes being burned and nearby residents in densely populated areas panicked, some fleeing with their belongings.
Including two children.. 16 people were killed in a massive fire at a fuel facility in Indonesia (video) pic.twitter.com/ne6GjoiMiA
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Rahmat Kristanto, an official in the fire brigade said – according to the newspaper "Jakarta Post" Two of the sixteen dead were children, while 50 people, including a child, were wounded.
Explosions were heard in footage circulated on social media, although Reuters was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the clips.
Near the warehouses, residents crowded the area as firefighters carried orange body bags.
The Jakarta disaster mitigation agency said residents had been evacuated to nearby mosques.
The call center of Jakarta’s main fire station said it had dispatched 51 units to Blombang district in North Jakarta, adding that the fire was massive.
A spokesman for a local hospital near the station told Compass TV that the hospital had received 10 people injured in the fire, without giving details of their condition.
Pertamina said – in a statement – that the cause of the accident is still being investigated and evacuation efforts are continuing.
The company confirmed that the fuel supply to the Jakarta region is safe as it plans to divert supplies from other stations.
