Victim Of Dieng Geothermal Well Poisoning Treated At Wonosobo Hospital

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WONOSOBO - A number of workers who were victims of gas poisoning during the drilling of a geothermal well in Dieng, Banjarnegara Regency, Central Java, on Saturday, March 12, are now undergoing treatment at the KRT Soetjonegoro Hospital, Wonosobo.

The victims had previously been taken to the Kejajar Public Health Center, and then referred to the Wonosobo Regional Hospital for more intensive treatment. A victim reportedly died while still at the Kejajar Health Center.

"Nine people have been poisoned. Of these, one has died and eight others have been referred to the Wonosobo Regional Hospital," said the Head of the Banjarnegara Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Aris Sudaryanto, as reported by Antara, Saturday, 12 March.

According to Aris, the victims were identified as Sulthon Amin, a Riau resident, Sutrisno (Tuban), Edi Yanuar (Cepu), Irfan Afandi (Tolili Barat) and Agus (Kalikajar). In addition, there was also Matthew Sinaga (Bandung), Slamet (Banjarnegara), Endang, and finally, Lilik, a resident of Magelang.

From the information gathered in the field, it is known that the workers were preparing to drill in the PAD 28 Geo Dipa well, then it was suspected that H2S gas was emitting from the well which caused the workers to be poisoned.

The latest news from the UD Wonosobo Hospital said that the condition of some of the victims was in a conscious condition, but some of them were still not stable.

Separately, the Head of Public Relations of PT Geo Dipa Energi Dieng Unit, Choirul Anwar, explained that the workers who were victims of poisoning were in the process of killing, or shutting down geothermal wells.

"There was no explosion at the location of the drilled well, as information spread on social media, because the well was turned off. Workers are suspected to have been exposed to toxic gas that was concentrated in the drill pump," said Choirul.

According to Choirul, the condition of the location is now safe, so residents are advised not to worry about the potential for subsequent toxic gases. Moreover, the condition of the well is currently turned off and inactive, so that no toxic gas will appear as speculated by some parties.