Police Examine 10 New Witnesses Investigate The Cause Of The Pertamina Plumpang Depot Fire

The search for victims buried or missing in the Pertamina Plumpang Depot fire incident on Friday night March 3. (Between-Aprillio Akbar)

JAKARTA - The National Police are examining 10 new witnesses in an effort to uncover the main cause of the Pertamina Pelumpang Depot fire, North Jakarta. The total number of witnesses who have been questioned is 24 people.

"24 people means that if yesterday we conveyed 14 then there were an additional 10 people who were questioned," said Karo Penmas, Police Public Relations Division, Brigadier General Ahmad Ramadhan, to reporters at the Kramat Jati Police Hospital, Tuesday, March 7.

Of the 10 new witnesses, 9 of them are residents of settlements around the Pertamina Pelumpang Depot. While the other one is from PT Pertamina.

With the addition of witnesses, a temporary total of 10 employees of PT Pertamina and 14 local residents have been examined regarding the cause of the fire incident that killed dozens of lives.

"This means that 10 people from Pertamina. Then, 14 witnesses from the community," he said.

"So this is the operator and 8 sufervisors. Then there is security, there are 2 people," continued Ramadhan.

The number of witnesses does not rule out the possibility that it will continue to grow. This is because the investigation process is still being carried out.

"So that until now an investigation is still being carried out so that the process is still asking for information because the witness is yes," said Ramadhan.

For information, the Pertamina Plumpang Depot, North Jakarta, experienced a fire on Friday, March 3 at around 20.00 WIB. Then, the fire can be extinguished around 23.00 WIB.

The DKI Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat) deployed 52 fire engines and about 250 personnel to assist the extinguishing process at the location.

Based on the data, 19 people died as a result of the fire. Then, dozens of other people were injured.