Several injured during oil refinery fire in Indonesia's West Java Province

Several people were injured in a fire that erupted at an oil refinery in Indonesia's West Java Province after an explosion, the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina said.

Earlier, it was reported that the fire continued to spread at the Pertamina oil refinery in Indonesia's Balangan. According to the local newspaper, locals were being evacuated as hundreds of firefighting vehicles were trying to extinguish the blaze.

Pertamina said in a statement on its website that four local residents were nearby when the incident occurred. They have been taken to the hospital with burns.

According to the company, around 1,000 Balangan residents have been evacuated amid the fire.

The Indonesia Antara news agency reported citing local emergency authorities that at least 20 people were injured in the fire, five of them received serious burns.

According to local media, the oil refinery blast was likely caused by a lightning strike that occurred during a thunderstorm.

Pertamina said the exact cause of the "incident," which occurred at the Balongan oil refinery at around 00:45 local time on Monday (17:00 GMT on Sunday) has not been determined yet. The company did confirm that there were rain and lighting at the time of the incident. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )