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View all search results10 killed, 18 injured as oil tanker catches fire during repairs in Batam
The fatal blaze on Wednesday came less than four months after another fire broke out aboard the MT Federal II while it was undergoing repairs at the same PT ASL shipyard on June 24.
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Shipyards, seen through an airplane window, on April 3, 2019, in Batam, Riau Islands. (Reuters/Henning Gloystein)
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t least 10 people were killed and 18 others injured after a fire broke out aboard an oil tanker undergoing repairs at a shipyard in Batam, Riau Islands, in the early hours of Wednesday, marking the second deadly incident involving the same vessel in less than four months.
The blaze erupted around 4:30 a.m. on the MT Federal II, which was docked at a facility owned by PT ASL in Tanjung Uncang.
Riau Islands Police Chief Insp. Gen. Asep Safruddin said dozens of workers from two subcontractors, PT Rotary and PT Putra Teguh Mandiri (PTM), were conducting welding and maintenance work on the tanker’s fuel tanks when the fire broke out.
“Rescue efforts were immediately launched to evacuate workers trapped on board, but despite rescuers best efforts, 10 lives were lost and 18 others were injured,” Asep said during a visit to the victims on Wednesday.
“The surviving victims are being treated at four different hospitals across Batam. We pray for their full recovery,” Asep added.
He said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Riau Islands Police criminal investigation unit, along with the forensics team (Inafis), is currently conducting a thorough examination aboard the MT Federal II to determine what sparked the blaze.
A PT ASL employee named Agus, who was aboard the tanker when the blaze occurred, said that most of the people who were killed or injured were located on the lower floor of the vessel, where the fuel tanks are located.
