Explosion at Pertamina refinery injures nine
04 April 2023
An explosion at a refinery in western Indonesia injured nine people on March 31. The incident happened at a refinery owned by a unit of state energy company PT Pertamina just a few weeks after two other incidents killed over 20 people.
Image: KPI
PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI), which operates the refinery, said in a statement that the explosion occurred at 22:54 local time in a gas compressor at the plant on the island of Sumatra. Nine people suffered minor injuries after the blast damaged an operator room and nearby houses in the city of Dumai. The cause of the explosion is under investigation while the refinery’s operations have already restarted.
A spokesperson for KPI said: “PT KPI RU Dumai apologises for this incident and we will be responsible for any losses that occur in the community. We also make sure that the national fuel stocks, especially the Northern Sumatra region, are safe. Hopefully the recovery process can run well so that the refinery's operational conditions can run optimally in the next few days.”
KPI said it was forming a Recovery Team involving the Regional Government, Law Enforcement, and community representatives to accelerate recovery steps. In addition, it had also prepared a medical team to carry out health checks for the surrounding community.
The incident comes a few weeks after a fire at a Pertamina fuel terminal in Jakarta which killed 20 people. Another incident on March 26 also killed three people after a fire broke out on a tanker carrying Pertamina oil to Bali and Lombok.
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