Death toll from Indonesia blast climbs to 11

SIDOARJO, Indonesia (Reuters) – Three more bodies were found on Friday near the scene of a gas pipeline explosion in Indonesia’s East Java province which was linked to a devastating mudflow, pushing the overall death toll to 11.

The blast late on Wednesday, which disrupted gas operations in the region covered by state oil company Pertamina’s East Java Gas Pipeline, occurred in the area where hot mud has been gushing unchecked from near the Banjar Panji exploratory gas well since the end of May following a drilling accident.

The pipeline was located underneath sand-and-gravel dikes made to contain the mud. The transmission pipe broke after land subsidence hiked the pressure, igniting some of the gas.

The mudflow has inundated several villages, dozens of factories and swathes of paddy and sugarcane fields, causing an unfolding environmental disaster in Sidoarjo, an industrial suburb of Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city and port.

Reuters