8 Tons Of Leaking Gas, Residents Of Swiss Bell In Panakukang Hotel Makassar Evacuated

The joint team is preparing to stop the gas leak at the Swiss Bell in Hotel on Jalan Boulevard, Masale Village, Panakukang District, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Wednesday (18/9/2024) (ANTARA)

The Panakukang Sector Police (Polsek) of Makassar City, South Sulawesi, is investigating a case of alleged negligence in gas leaks with a capacity of eight tons at the Swiss Bell in Panakukang Hotel which is considered a danger to hotel residents and the surrounding community.

"The provisional assumption is still under investigation, it is still under investigation," said Panakukang Police Chief Adjunct Commissioner Akhmad Irfan to reporters quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, September 19.

He said the incident occurred on Tuesday, September 17 at around 23.00 WITA until it continued Wednesday, September 18 at 05.00 WITA.

Dozens of room occupants at the scene had to be evacuated to a safer place to avoid the bad effects, considering that an explosion was prone to a fire.

Firefighters, police officers and the Gegana Brimob Team of the South Sulawesi Police immediately localized by sterilizing the surrounding area on Jalan Pandang Raya, Jalan Adyaksa and Jalan Boulevard in Masale Village, Panakukang District.

Road access around the hotel is closed so that no one passes. All activities are temporarily suspended and especially the electricity leading to the hotel is turned off to avoid a fire. The temporary suspicion is that the gas leaks from the pipe flowed by gas cylinders with a capacity of eight kilograms are equivalent to eight tons.

From the information from the General Manager and mechanics in the field of hotel maintenance, said the police chief, so far the filling of the gas cylinder is around five tons in each filling into the tube.

"The savings connection is to the kitchen area and laundry place at the Swiss Bell Hotel. This is still under investigation. Later, when there are results from Labfor and Gegana, they will be conveyed," he said.

Meanwhile, Marcom Swiss Bell In Panakukang Ikhtiara Marela confirmed the gas leak. He explained that the gas leak was suspected to have been connected to the tube that was channeled to the kitchen and laundry.

"In terms of SOP (standard operating procedures) we have turned off all electric switches and all the sources (triggers) of the fire in the hotel area. Our guests have been rescued when there is information about the leak. Guests don't know for sure how much, but the total room to stay tonight is around 97 rooms," he said.

For the time of the incident, he said, at around 23.00 WITA, all hotel residents and employees had been evacuated from the hotel. Regarding how much the gas cylinder capacity is, which is eight tons but only five tons were filled two months ago.

From the viral video uploaded by the Makassar Damkar team, it can be seen that white, cloud-like gas slowly emerges from below the back door of the local hotel. The gas is very dangerous when hit by sparks and can even cause a fire.