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Govt probes possible gas leak at SMGP plant after more than 100 hospitalized
Aside from the energy ministry, local police have opened their own probes after at least 123 residents were hospitalized for suspected poisoning and 300 others were evacuated on Friday from two villages in North Sumatra's Mandailing Natal regency, where SMGP recently started operating a newly drilled geothermal well.
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Steam rises from a power plant operated by Pertamina subsidiary Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) in this undated photograph. (pge.pertamina.com)
T
he Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has launched an investigation into a possible gas leak at a geothermal plant in North Sumatra operated by PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power (SMGP), after more than 100 people in nearby villages were hospitalized for suspected poisoning from toxic gas.
Authorities said dozens of residents in the villages of Sibanggor Julu and Sibanggor Tonga in Mandailing Natal regency reported smelling a pungent odor in their communities on Thursday night. Dozens of villagers fell sick afterward, with some vomiting and others losing consciousness.
Residents in the two villages exhibited symptoms of suspected mass poisoning shortly after SMGP started operating a recently drilled geothermal well located some 700 meters away.
At least 123 people were admitted to nearby health facilities for suspected toxic gas poisoning, while some 300 other villagers were evacuated on Friday night.
Energy ministry spokesman Agus Cahyono Adi said the ministry had ordered SMGP to halt its operations in the newly drilled geothermal well.
"We will soon dispatch a team to investigate the incident, including finding the source and the type of the alleged gas leak," Agus said in a statement on Friday.
He added that SMGP said it had activated the geothermal well in line with its standard operating procedure.
