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)