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Death toll in Aceh oil well fire rises to 11
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Fatal accident: Flames shoot out of an oil well in Pasi Puteh village, Aceh, on Wednesday. The death toll from the fire has risen to 11 people. (Antara/Maulana)
P
ersonnel from a joint search and rescue (SAR) team have found the body of another victim of an oil well fire in East Aceh regency, Aceh, bringing the death toll in the incident to 11.
Meanwhile, 42 others have been severely injured in the blaze at the well in Pasir Putih village, Ranto Panjang Peureulak district, early on Wednesday.
The 11 fatalities have been identified as Afrizal, Era, Eridansyah, Dedi Syahputera, Kak Nini, Mak Wen, Nazarullah, Putra Jubir, Riski Ardiansyah, Siti Hafsah and Sudaryono. All of the victims are residents of Ranto Peureulak district.
The bodies of the dead have been moved to the Ranto Peureulak community health center (Puskesmas). They were found by the SAR team at a distance of around 10 to 20 meters from the blaze.
East Aceh Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Syahrizal Fauzi said the joint SAR team continued to work to recover other possible victims. “The evacuation process is still being hampered by the blazing fire from the oil well that has not yet been extinguished,” Syahrizal told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He said all injured victims were being treated at three different hospitals in Peureulak. Twenty people are receiving treatment at Zubir Mahmud Hospital while 16 others are at Abdul Azis Hospital. Meanwhile, six people are being treated at Graha Bunda Hospital.
Syahrizal said the oil well fire also destroyed five houses. Authorities are investigating the cause of the incident. (ebf)
