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At least 16 people were killed when a fire broke out on Friday at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia’s state energy company Pertamina in the capital Jakarta, an official at the city’s main firefighting unit said.
The fire, which started after 8 p.m. local time (1300 GMT), burned some houses and sent nearby residents in the densely populated areas into a panic, some of whom fled with their belongings, footage from broadcasters showed.
Two of the 16 fatalities were children, while 50 people were injured including one child, according to Rahmat Kristanto, an official at the firefighting unit.
Most of the injured people suffered from burns and the government will pay for their medical treatment, Jakarta’s acting governor Heru Budi Hartono told reporters.
Explosions could be heard in footage shared on social media, although Reuters was not immediately able to authenticate the clips.
Near the storage station, residents crowded the area while firefighters carried orange body bags from the fire. Jakarta’s disaster-mitigation agency said residents had been evacuated into nearby mosques.
