Oil Spill Blaze Kills Two off Borneo Island

Thick black smoke rose from a fire at sea near Indonesia's Balikpapan Bay on Saturday (March 31) which had claimed the lives of at least 2 fishermen, local media reported police as saying.

Video footage uploaded to a social media website showed thick plumes of dark smoke rising from the fierce fire as people on fishing boats watch from a distance.

Indonesia's state owned oil and gas company Pertamina, who have an oil refinery nearby, said in a statement that they had found no leaks at their refinery and that the incident had not halted their operations.

The statement also said that the fire was first sighted at around 11a.m. local time (0300GMT) and had since been extinguished by joint efforts between Balikpapan's regional disaster management agency (BPBD), Chevron and Pertamina Hulu Mahakam.

The cause of the spillage and fire is still under investigation.


(Reuters)