Surabaya, NU Online
The Search and Rescue (SAR) team with the help of the Indonesian Military and Police found the body of Capt. Hendro, Commander of the Taman Sub-District Military Command (Danramil) in the mud in Porong, Sidoarjo at 8 am on Friday (24/11).

"Captain Hendro was confirmed to have died and his body was brought to Sidoarjo Hospital for an autopsy before being brought home," spokesman of the Brawijaya Regional Military Command Lt. Col. AS Harahap said on Friday.

<>He added the team also found another body whose identity remained unclear, bringing the number of death toll of Wednesday’s pipeline blast into ten.

Previously, data available at the Sidoarjo district police showed on Thursday that the blast of gas pipeline owned by the State Oil and Gas Company, PT Pertamina, killed at least eight people and injured 15 others while four people were reportedly missing. Two others were still in critical condition.

The gas pipe which exploded on Wednesday night lay under one of the dikes built by Lapindo Brantas to contain a continuing hot mud flow from one of the company’s gas wells in the Porong area.

The explosion caused ruptures in the dike allowing hot mud to escape and flood previously mud-free areas, including a section of a nearby toll road.

The hot mud flow which started last May 29 had previously inundated eight villages, many homes, factories and paddy fields in three subdistricts, causing hundreds of thousands of people to become homeless and jobless. (ant/dar)