Gas cylinder explosion in Tambora damages house; elderly resident injured

An explosion in Tambora, West Jakarta, occurred on Friday, 22 May, caused by a gas cylinder. A house on Jalan Tambora II RT 001/007 was left in ruins, and an elderly person sustained burns requiring medical treatment. Syaiful Kahfi, Head of the Operations Section at the Sudin Dinas Penanggulangan Kebakaran dan Penyelamatan (Gulkarmat) West Jakarta, told reporters, ‘Yes, there was (an explosion) due to a gas cylinder.’

Tambora Police Sector Chief AKP Wahyu Hidayat said the blast was suspected to be caused by a leak from a 12 kg gas cylinder, adding, ‘There was (an explosion). It is related to a gas leak.’ The victim, an elderly person initials SKC, aged 71, sustained burns and needed hospital treatment. ‘The victim is one person; not serious, burns but not life-threatening,’ Wahyu noted. Police have secured the scene and launched investigations.

Video footage of the incident circulated on social media, including on the Instagram account @warga.jakbar. In one clip, the white fence of the house appears tilted from the explosion. Antara quoted Tambora Subdistrict Chief Pangestu Aji as saying there were five people in the house when the gas exploded, with the gravest injuries to elderly SKC. He added that the building was heavily damaged.

Preliminary indications suggest the gas cylinder regulator was not tightened properly when closed. ‘If the seal was not tight, once the gas was turned on, it spread; when electricity flowed, it triggered an explosion, though it did not ignite a fire,’ Aji said.