[Kabar-indonesia] 5,600 Displaced as Java Mudflow Spreads

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Indonesia's Java mudflow spreads further, 
displaces more than 5,600 residents

JAKARTA, June 26 (XFN-ASIA) - More than 5,600 Indonesians 
have been forced to leave their homes for temporary shelters as 
a massive outflow of hot mud spreads further around a gas well 
in East Java, officials said.

Mud has been spewing from several locations around the well 
since May 27, the day a massive earthquake hit Central Java. 
The government has said the quake did not cause the spill which 
was triggered by drilling at the well.

Teams are trying to stem the stinking flow. It now covers 116 
hectares of ricefields and has made hundreds of homes in four 
villages uninhabitable, said Diono, from the social welfare office 
in Sidoarjo, the main town nearest the spill.

"The mud contines to gush out from several areas and has 
covered some areas in 50 centimeters (20 inches) of sludge," 
Diono told Agence France-Presse.

He said many of those displaced were seeking medical treatment 
after complaining of respiratory ailments from vapors and strong 
odors emitted from the mud.

PT Lapindo Brantas, the company operating the gas drilling site, 
is a unit of PT Medco Energi Internasional and PT Energi Mega 
Persada. It has agreed to compensate the displaced.

The sludge has also covered part of a major tollway linking the 
East Java capital Surabaya with the city of Malang to the 
southeast.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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