Gas still leaking in Aceh, 1,400 people evacuated
Gas still leaking in Aceh, 1,400 people evacuated
JAKARTA (JP): Natural gas and mud reportedly continued to spew
yesterday from an oil well that exploded Friday in Aceh, but
officials of state-owned oil company Pertamina in the province
said the situation was under control.
Three explosions and the sound of surging mud were audible
several kilometers from the Pertamina well, according to an
Antara reporter interviewed from the site in East Aceh regency by
SCTV private television station last night.
More than 1,400 residents of the Dalam and Tanjung Karang
hamlets in Karang Baru subdistrict, some 400 kilometers east of
Aceh's capital Banda Aceh, have been evacuated.
They were sheltered in the Pertamina dormitory in Kuala
Simpang, 10 kilometers away from the blast location.
Local authorities have set up communal kitchens to provide
meals for villagers, some of whom lost their homes in the
accident.
Antara, quoting local government officials and officials at
the local Pertamina office, reported yesterday that the situation
was under control.
No deaths or injuries were reported as of yesterday, and no
official estimation of damages from the incident had been
disclosed.
Pertamina's production and exploration chief in Kuala Simpang,
Amir Yusuf Lamreung, told reporters the company would take
responsibility for the blast, including compensating villagers
whose property was damaged.
The explosions sent mud and dense smoke shooting skywards
between late Friday and early Saturday in the subdistrict.
The Pertamina spokesman in Jakarta, Ramli Djafaar, told Antara
yesterday the explosions followed the withdrawal of a drill from
an oil well Friday.
The well leaked when the drill was at a depth of 35 meters,
and the gas explosion followed efforts to stem the outflow.
Djafaar said technicians were pumping mud and chemicals into
the well in an effort to halt the leak.
Four houses collapsed into a crater formed by one eruption,
eight houses were seriously damaged by the rain of mud and 176
others sustained minor damage, Kompas daily reported yesterday.
The main road between Banda Aceh and Medan was temporarily
closed. Dalam and Tanjung Karang have been declared closed to the
public and are under military and police guard.
Indonesia is the world's biggest producer of liquefied natural
gas. Its huge gas reserves include the Natuna field in the South
China Sea. (aan)