Three killed in Pertamina?s tanker explosion

A fuel tanker belonging to state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) exploded on Monday afternoon in Belawan seaport, North Sumatra, killing three people.

The three people were all workers of PT Waruna Nusa Sentana (WNS) which was repairing the tanker. They were rushed to the Pirngadi hospital in Medan soon after the incident, but doctors failed to save their lives, according the local media.

The MT Palu Sipat tanker with a capacity of 17,500 LTDW was made by state owned shipbuilder PT PAL in Surabaya. It exploded while it was in a docking process at the Belawan seaport, Pertamina?s spokesperson in North Sumatra Zainal Abidin was quoted by Tempo as saying.

The police is still investigating the causes of the incident. As of Tuesday, the police was still reluctant to get into the tanker on fear of possible new explosions.

?The vessel is still stinky. We don?t know the causes of the incident yet,? Adjunct Senior Commissioner Aswin Sipayung, Head of Belawan Seaport Police Station, said. (*)