Explosion at Pertamina refinery heard 8 kilometers away

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 04/02/2011

Great balls of fire: State oil firm PT Pertamina’s refinery in Central Java town
of Cilacap exploded on Saturday. Pertamina is still investigating the cause|
but said there were no fatalities. (Antara/Idhad Zakaria)

The sound of an explosion at the Pertamina Refinery Unit IV in Cilacap, Central Java was heard up to 8 kilometers from the incident.

Fire engulfed an oil refinery owned by state oil firm PT Pertamina on Saturday morning

A resident, whose house is located around 8 kilometers from the refinery, said she heard an explosion at around 4:30 a.m.

“I heard a sound like thunder that startled me,” Martinie Susanty said.

However, most residents did not panic because they slept through it. “We only learned of the explosion at Pertamina at 5 a.m. The place was lit up,” Martinie added as reported by tribunnews.com.

The refinery was still belching plumes of smoke at the time of writing.

“There is a large amount of black smoke protruding from the refinery. Flames can be seen also,” Martinie said.

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