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Construction mishap triggers Pertamina oil pipe fire in West Java: Jasa Marga
An underground oil pipe belonging to state-owned energy holding company Pertamina erupted into flames on Tuesday afternoon beside a toll road near Bandung in West Java, due to a construction mishap, according to the toll road’s operator, state-owned company Jasa Marga
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span>An underground oil pipe belonging to state-owned energy holding company Pertamina erupted into flames on Tuesday afternoon beside a toll road near Bandung in West Java, due to a construction mishap, according to the toll road’s operator, state-owned company Jasa Marga.
The incident claimed one victim, identified as Li Xuan Feng, a heavy machinery operator with PT Mingshun Construction, who was working on railway project during the accident.
“The fire was caused by the bored pile of [train developer] Kereta Cepat Indonesia China [KCIC] hitting Pertamina’s fuel pipe,” said Jasa Marga in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Jasa Marga responded to the fire, which started at 2 p.m. near the construction site of the Jakarta–Bandung high speed railway, by redirecting traffic on the Purbaleunyi toll road until 5:38 p.m., by which time the fire was extinguished. The fire occurred near Kilometer 130 on the Padaleunyi section of the toll road in South Cimahi.
West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi told Antara news agency that authorities “suspect a worker impaled a hard object on the ground and hit Pertamina’s [oil] pipe.”
The 30.5-centimeter-diameter pipe, buried up to 5 meters underground, was channeling Pertamina Dex-brand diesel from a fuel facility at Ujung Berung regency in the east to Padalarang regency in the west, bypassing Bandung city, says a Pertamina spokeswoman.
Pertamina and KCIC said in separate statements that they were still investigating the cause of the fire.
“Our priority is ensuring the safety [of people] around the location in cooperation with project contractors, Pertamina and other stakeholders,” said a spokesperson from KCIC, which is developing the Jakarta-Bandung high speed train slated for operation by 2021.
“We emphasize that Pertamina has no operational and technical activity in the affected area,” said Pertamina spokeswoman Fajriyah Usman, adding that the company was still gathering information about an alleged victim of the fire.
She told reporters on Tuesday evening that the fire was extinguished at 5:20 p.m. by a team of around 20 firefighting vehicles that were owned by, among others, the energy company, regional administration and local police.
“We immediately shut the supply from [the facility] to stop the fuel flow. The fuel that caught fire was the fuel that had already leaked,” she said.
Fajriyah also assured reporters that the diesel stock for Bandung, Padalarang and Ujung Berung was secure. The stock just for Bandung, which is the provincial capital, was enough for more than 17 days. Pertamina is still investigating the total losses from the fire.
