At least ten people were killed and eighteen injured after an oil tanker caught fire early on Wednesday while undergoing repairs in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province, according to local police.
The blaze broke out on the Federal II at around 04:00 on Wednesday (21:00 GMT Tuesday) at a shipyard in the city of Batam, local police chief Zaenal Arifin said. Batam is located about 20 kilometres from Singapore by sea.
The Federal II was docked for repairs when the fire erupted. Arifin said the cause of the incident remains under investigation, adding that the ship was not carrying oil at the time.
As of Wednesday afternoon, ten people had died and eighteen others were receiving treatment in hospital, all of whom were working on the vessel when the fire broke out.
“Some of them were heavily injured,” Arifin said, noting that it was still unclear who owns the tanker.
In June, another vessel caught fire in Batam while under repair, killing four people and injuring nine others. In that case, local police named two individuals suspected of violating standard safety procedures.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)