3 killed, 18 injured when oil pipe explodes in Indonesia's South Sumatra

USPA News - Four people were killed Wednesday and more than a dozen others were injured when an oil pipeline exploded on Indonesia`s island of Sumatra, local authorities said on Thursday. It may have been caused by illegal crude oil tapping from the pipeline.

The accident occurred at around 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday at an oil pipe in the subdistrict of Bayung Lencir, located in Musi Banyuasin Regency of South Sumatra province. The pipeline was being operated by PT Elnusa, a subsidiary firm of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina South Sumatra. After emergency teams were able to extinguish the fire nearly six hours later, authorities confirmed four people were killed while eighteen others were injured. Many of the injured were in a critical condition and severely burned, with some of them having suffered burns over more than 80 percent of their body. Police said the explosion was likely caused by local residents who had dug a hole in an effort to siphon out oil. However, South Sumatra Police spokesman Adjutant Senior Commander R. Djarod told the Antara news agency that an investigation is still underway to determine the exact causes. It is not uncommon for locals to siphon out oil from underground pipelines. According to reports, PT Pertamina recorded losses of 30,000 to 70,000 barrels each month during the past five months from the Tempino-Plaju pipe alone and principally in the sub-district of Bayung Lencir.