"The blast claimed the life of truck driver identified as Jamarlis. It also caused injuries to three people," the Chief of Pekanbaru Resort Police, Senior Commissioner Robert Hariyanto, said here on Monday.
The tank truck belonged to Abdi Bina Arya Sembada Ltd. Co. that has its office in Jalan Tanjung Datuk, Pekanbaru.
Robert said the incident occurred when Jamarlis was getting the truck repaired at the service centre after noticing that the tank was leaking. Before the welding process was carried out, Jamarlis had disposed of the diesel fuel.
However, residual gasses from diesel fuel still remained inside the tank, eventually causing the blast.
"We assumed that the welding process was not carried out as per the standard procedure. There were still gasses inside the tank and these caught fire as the result of heat generated by sparks during welding," Robert said.
Jamarlis was at the back of the tank truck, next to Donner who was doing the actual welding. As a result of the blast, the rear cover of the tank became detached and was thrown tens of metres away, causing damage to the service centre.
Police was investigating the scene of the blast and interviewed several witnesses.
"We will also gather information from the person in charge involved in the repairing project," Robert said.
Three people were injured in the accident, namely Donner, trucks helper Riko and service keeper Dolay. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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