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Seventeen people were injured and thousands of residents in
the East Java city of Bojonegoro fled their homes following an
explosion at an oil well which occurred shortly after midnight Saturday.
Of the 17 residents who were taken to the hospital after the blast
inside the Pertamina-PetroChina oil refinery complex, fifteen have been
released while two are still at Dr. R. Sosodoro Jatikusumo Hospital in
Bojonegoro receiving treatment for respiratory problems and nausea.
PetroChina security supervisor Djoko Agus said the blast was an
accident and such blasts were common in mining operations.
"This kind of thing is quite common, it's called a gas kick which
happens when drilling reaches a depth of 6,300 feet. The workers
sprayed it with solid mud but it failed to slow down the ammonia gas
which then burst out of the well," Djoko said.
In order to prevent the gas from spreading further, the project's
executor, PT Great Wall China, set it alight. The company's workers
then blocked the gas from escaping the well by using high-pressure
water hoses. "It worked, by 5:01 a.m., the fire had been put out and
the gas explosion had been contained ," he said.
State oil and gas company PT Pertamina's president director, Ari H.
Soemarno, said such explosions were a common occurrence in oil
exploration and the exploration has been conducted according to the
prescribed procedures.
He said the explosion did not happen due to a gas leak from a pipe, but
as a result of strong pressure. Pockets of natural gas are often
encountered when drilling for oil.
"The situation at the site has been brought under control. We've taken
care of the area around the site and residents have been evacuated," he
said Saturday in Surabaya.
He also asked for people to remain calm, saying that the gas was
harmless and residents need not worry. If they fainted, it's because
they panicked, he added.
The loud explosion occurred when most people were asleep, sending a
foul smell into the air.
"I woke up and went outside, I saw people getting ready to evacuate so
I took my family too," Soekardi, a resident of Ngampel village, the
closest to the exploration site, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
The explosion and foul smell were also experienced by residents in
Campurejo and Sambiroto villages, about a kilometer from the source of
the blast.
More than 3,000 residents from the three villages fled the area and
took shelter in offices and Bojonegoro City Square.
"I didn't have time to bring anything, just the clothes that I was
wearing, and my two daughters," said Hernani, a Sambiroto resident.
Although the fire had been put out, many residents were still staying
away, with only men returning home to check on their belongings.
Head of Ngampel subdistrict, Sujiman, said that local residents had
been concerned that there may be an accident. He claimed worried
residents in the three villages had staged a protest two days before
the explosion took place.
"The residents staged a protest warning PetroChina that they would
demand compensation in case of an industrial accident, like what
happened in Lapindo. But then, it really happened," he said, comparing
the incident to an industrial disaster at a site belonging to Lapindo
Brantas Inc. in Sidoarjo, East Java, where hot mud gushed out of an gas
well.
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