Indonesia fuel depot fire kills at least 19; 3 still missing

Fire was caused by a technical problem involving excess pressure as depot received fuel from an oil refinery, says national police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo

Residents living near the depot say they smelled a strong odour of petrol, after which thunder rumbled twice, followed by a huge explosion

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Burned homes following a fire near a PT Pertamina facility in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 1:00pm, 5 Mar 2023Updated: 3:10pm, 5 Mar 2023

Indonesian rescuers and firefighters on Sunday searched for three people who were still missing under the rubble of charred houses and buildings, after a large fire spread from a fuel storage depot in the capital and killed at least 19 people.

The Plumpang fuel storage station, operated by state-run oil and gas company Pertamina, is near a densely populated area in the Tanah Merah neighbourhood in North Jakarta. It supplies 25 per cent of Indonesia’s fuel needs.

At least 260 firefighters and 52 fire engines extinguished the blaze just before midnight on Friday after it tore through the neighbourhood for more than two hours, fire officials said.

Footage showed hundreds of people running in panic as thick plumes of black smoke and orange flames filled the sky.

People look at the debris of damaged houses at a residential area near the site of a fuel storage explosion in Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the fire-hit areas on Sunday morning to reassure people that the government would help those in need.