TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – National Police Chief Gen. Police Listyo Sigit Prabowo suspects that disturbances during refueling were the cause of the fire at the Pertamina Plumpang depot on Friday night.
Listyo Sigit said that the Pertamina Plumpang depot in Koja North Jakarta is a storage place for fuel oil, the Pertamax type of fuel, originating from the Pertamina Balongan Refinery, Indramayu Regency, West Java.
“A technical problem occurred at the time of filling, causing excess pressure to set the Pertamina depot on fire,” Listyo Sigit said as quoted by Antara, Friday, March 4, 2023.
The police will carry out further investigations into the alleged technical problems during refueling, which was the starting point for the fire.
According to Listyo Sigit, later a joint team from Polda Metro Jaya and Bareskrim will carry out the initial crime scene investigation. The team involved Puslabfor, Pusident/Pusinafis.
“We visited the starting point of the fire and are currently investigating it. Of course, I cannot explain at this time because the team is currently working,” said Sigit.
To explore the technical problems, the team will ask the necessary witnesses, from the public to the management of the Pertamina Plumpang Depot, even from experts. So that a conclusion will be obtained about the cause of the fire.
Pertamina is supporting the police in carrying out an investigation to investigate the appearance of a spark that struck the fuel container.
Commissioner of PT Pertamina (Persero) Pahala Mansuri said that Pertamina would try to assist the National Police in carrying out an in-depth investigation to find the cause of the burning of the Pertamina Plumpang depot.
Pahala said that his party still could not confirm what caused the burning of the Pertamina depot.
The Pertamina Plumpang Depot fire occurred on Friday night, March 3 2023 at around 20.11 WIB. The flames from inside the depot area were thrown up to the residents’ settlements that were right next to it. A number of residents who testified, they smelled a pungent gasoline smell.
Until then an explosion was heard and flames appeared which completely devoured the houses of residents on Jalan Tanah Merah Bawah RT 12 RW 09, Rawa Badak Selatan Village, Koja District, North Jakarta. The fire was only successfully extinguished in the early hours of Saturday, March 4 2023.
DKI BPBD data states that 17 people died in the Pertamina depot fire incident. On Saturday afternoon, there were at least 1,085 people who were displaced. They took refuge in a number of places. However, the number of evacuees continued to decrease as the situation at the fire location became conducive.
Editor’s Choice: Night of Horror Behind the Pertamina Plumpang Wall, Residents Die with Burnt Bodies
