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Seven victims of oil tanker fire in North Sumatra identified
The fire was finally extinguished at 3 p.m. or around seven hours after the first explosion.
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A tugboat of state-owned port operator PT Pelindo 1 is used to put out a fire on the tanker Jag Leeka at Belawan Port in Medan, South Sumatra, on Monday. (Antara/Septianda Perdana)
The North Sumatra Police identified on Tuesday night seven crew members of crude oil tanker Jag Leela at Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra, who were killed in a fire on Monday.
The police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team identified the victims as Iman Maulana, 23; M. Nur Kasim Siregar, 37; Bahtiar Asmawi Siregar, 28; Iswondo, 46; Buchari, 34; Iwan Setiawan Hasibuan, 32; and Sandi Nova, 24. Five were residents of Medan, while the remaining two, who are siblings, are residents of Deli Serdang regency.
The victims’ bodies have been released to their respective families for burial.
“We will solve the case,” North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen Martuani Somin vowed on Tuesday while expressing his condolences to the victims’ families at Bhayangkara Hospital.
“We are investigating 12 people in relation to the firs.”
He added that the police’s forensic team was still unable to investigate the scene as the temperature inside the tanker ship was still unsafe.
An explosion inside the crude oil tanker Jag Leela occurred on Monday at 8.30 a.m. when the ship was about to dock at the PT Waruna Nusa Sentana shipyard in the Belawan Port.
The oil stored in the ship’s cargo made it difficult for local authorities to put out the fire, which was finally extinguished at 3 p.m. or around seven hours after the first explosion.
Twenty-two crew members were injured and have been receiving medical treatment at Prima Cipta Husada Hospital and the Navy hospital.
The police are currently looking for more casualties as some crew members might still be trapped inside the tanker’s hull. (trn)
