Thousands flee after oil well blast

The blast inside the Pertamina-PetroChina oil refinery complex.

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.