Three die in ship explosion

BANDAR LAMPUNG, Lampung: Three people were burned to death and another two badly injured when a ship carrying 105 drums of gasoline exploded and caught fire off of southern Lampung over the weekend.

South Lampung head of police precinct Lt. Col. Yuswar Arsyad told Antara on Saturday that the Larina IV belonged to local shrimp farming company, PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja.

An early investigation indicated that the incident might have been caused by the company's poor fuel handling system.

Those killed were identified as Helmi, 24, Hetena Tambali, 20 and Suparjo, 28. The two injured were Bahdin and A. Jais. (ste)