VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. India has reported on Monday its worst single-day increase in COVID-19 cases since October, taking the tally to more than 12 million for the first time ever.

A total of 68,020 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said. It was the highest daily rise since Oct. 11, according to a Reuters tally.

India’s overall caseload of 12.04 million - the world’s biggest outside the United States and Brazil - had been falling steadily since a peak in late September, but increased public gatherings and travel are causing a spurt at a time when a majority of Indians are yet to be vaccinated.

India has been reporting a spike in cases - above the 60,000 mark - for three consecutive days, though Monday’s rise was still below September’s peak of more than 90,000 cases a day.

India’s worst affected state, Maharashtra, is considering imposing a strict lockdown this week and has already tightened travel restrictions and imposed night curfew in a bid to put a lid on rising cases of infections.

Daily deaths rose by 291 on Monday and the virus has so far killed 161,843 people in the country. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said on Monday it hoped to restore operations at its Balongan oil refinery in West Java in four or five days, as firefighters worked to extinguish a massive blaze that broke out overnight, injuring five people.

Pertamina shut the plant and evacuated about 950 nearby residents, with videos shared on social media showing huge flames engulfing the 125,000 barrels per day facility, while a large explosion could be heard.

Pertamina chief executive Nicke Widyawati told reporters the fire was concentrated in the refinery’s storage tanks and there had been no impact on the processing plant.

“The main equipment at the refinery is not affected,” she said. “We hope the plant can be operational again soon after we put out the fire so there are no disruptions to supply.”

Pertamina expects operations can be restored in four to five days, Pertamina director Mulyono told the media briefing.

The fire started just after midnight during bad weather, Pertamina said, although the cause was currently unknown.

Five people were being treated in hospital for burns, a company spokesman said, adding that some were passing near the refinery when the fire broke out. No Pertamina staff were hurt.

FUEL STOCK “SECURE”

Pertamina’s Mulyono said the company had “secure” levels of fuels stocks to supply Indonesia, including for the upcoming Islamic holidays of Eid Al-Fitr.

“There is no need for panic because stock is abundant. This is of course because demand conditions are not fully normal yet, so the stock is still very high,” Mulyono said.

Balongan, one of Pertamina’s biggest refineries, processes crude oil from the Duri and Minas fields in Riau province and supplies fuel to Jakarta and the western regions of Java island.

Pertamina will use fuel from its other refineries in Cilacap and Tuban to help provide supplies to Jakarta while Balongan is shut, Mulyono added.

Nicke said efforts to put out the blaze were continuing, but the fire had been contained to a small area. Television footage earlier showed a massive column of black smoke rising from the site, which is about 225 km (140 miles) east of the capital Jakarta.

West Java police will be involved in the investigation into the cause of the fire, police spokesman Erdi Chaniago told Reuters.

A nearby resident told Metro TV she was awoken by a pungent smell of oil fumes and saw lightning strikes in the sky.

“We smelled a strong fuel scent first, so strong that my nose hurt, while we heard lightning strikes,” said Susi, who gave only one name.

“Suddenly the sky was orange,” she said.

The refinery is expected to receive about 600,000 barrels of Rabi crude from Gabon onboard tanker Aristodimos on April 10, shipping data on Refinitiv Eikon showed. (Reuters)

Jakarta. The Indonesian Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 apprehended four suspected terrorists in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara.

A spokesman of the West Nusa Tenggara Police Senior Commissioner Pol. Artanto confirmed the arrest here on Monday, saying that the four suspects were currently placed in detention at the provincial police headquarters.

"The arrest was made on Sunday (March 28) in Bima City on the same day as the Makassar (suicide bombing) incident," he stated.

Artanto chose to not divulge details on the location of the arrest and the suspects' radical group link.

"With regard to their link to a radical group or others, it would come under the authority of Densus 88 or the Indonesia Police headquarters to explain it," he remarked.

The four suspects were identified by their initials as BU alias Gozi, a recidivist in a terrorism case and arrested in Penatoi Village, Mpunda Sub-district, Bima, along with two other suspects LA alias Guru Mudi and MU alias Abu Zahiroh.

Another suspect RAP alias Abu Ridho was arrested in Nae Village, West Rasanae Sub-district, Bima. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Some 400 thousand barrels of oil of Indonesia's state-owned oil company PT Pertamina (Persero) were lost following a major fire at the Balongan Refinery, Indramayu, West Java, on Monday, at 00:45 a.m. local time.

"The production loss is estimated at around 400 thousand barrels since it cannot be supplied from the refinery," Pertamina's Logistics and Infrastructure Director, Mulyono, noted in a statement here, Monday.

The company proceeded with a normal shutdown soon after the fire erupted. The Balongan Refinery is expected to be operating normally again in the next four to five days.

During the termination of operations, Pertamina will supply fuel for the community from several refineries and fuel terminals, one of which is the Cilacap Refinery and the Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) Refinery.

The Cilacap refinery will boost production to 300 thousand barrels and the TPPI refinery by 500 thousand barrels.

Pertamina continues to probe the cause of the fire and is focused on handling the emergency situation.

The company claims to have been able to localize the fire inside the bund wall by using foam to prevent the flames from spreading to other areas.

Pertamina, in cooperation with the district governments of Indramayu and Cirebon, deployed 10 fire engines.

The fire broke out at the T-301G tank amid torrential rains accompanied by lightning.

The flames could be seen at a distance of five kilometers.

Hundreds of residents, earlier evacuated to a safe place, away from the location of the fire, have now gradually begun returning to their respective homes. (Antaranews)