Hundreds Evacuated Following Huge Blaze at Pertamina’s Balongan Refinery, Five Seriously Injured

Hundreds evacuated after fire at Pertamina refinery

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As many as 950 residents have been evacuated following a massive fire at state-owned PT Pertamina’s Balongan oil refinery in Indramayu, West Java in the early hours of Monday, 29th March 2021.

Five people were seriously injured by the explosion, while several were reported missing. According to a report by The Jakarta Post, one person had also died from a heart attack after the blast.

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In a televised briefing on Monday evening, Pertamina CEO Nicke Widyawati said the fire had been localized and the company expects operations to return to normal in the next four to five days. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

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Social media alight with photos and videos from the site

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Image credit: AP

Photos and videos from the refinery fire have been circulated widely on social media, showing a blazing inferno in the dark of the night and black smoke rising toward the sky.

Image credit: AP

The blast was even visible from satellite images.

Video adapted from: @bintangghf

Twitter user @bintangghf shared a thread of videos he took near the site of the fire, showing bystanders stopping by to capture the incident using their phones.

Image credit: @bintangghf

He also shared a photo of the bright sky above Indramayu due to the fire, unusual since it was taken at 1:13 AM.

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Hundreds evacuated after fire at Pertamina refinery

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It’s been a rough few days for Indonesians to say the least, with a terrorist attack in Makassar on Sunday, 28th March 2021 and Monday’s refinery fire on top of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

We hope that the casualty of this incident rests in peace, and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

More news from Indonesia:

• Terrorist attack during church service in Makassar
• Nongsa D-Town is launched in Batam
• Istinja-friendly urinal design

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Cover image adapted from AP