LAWAS: Two cousins who went wildboar hunting lived to tell of the explosions at the Petronas Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline that shocked the district near here.
Parang Sebilor, 39, claimed he had just started hunting with his cousin Thomas Etam Adam, 44, when they heard the explosion and saw flames rising up to the sky in front of him early Tuesday morning.
"We ran separate directions and heard a second explosion," said Parang adding that the jungle behind him was ablaze as he fled from the site at Bukit Berikau about 30km from here.
"As I was running, I saw a river and jumped in. I stayed there for a while until the fire became smaller and made my way out of the jungle," said Parang who eventually made his way to a dirt road where a passer-by helped send him home to Long Ugui about seven kilometres away.
His cousin also made his way back to Long Ugui and both of them later went to the district hospital for medical treatment for minor injuries. Parang said he was injured around his waist and a bit of his hair was also burnt.
The plantation workers said large plots have been planted with oil palm in the area surrounding the pipeline stretching from Kimanis in Sabah to Bintulu in Sarawak.
The location where the explosion happened was 135km from Kimanis.
Meanwhile a team of policemen headed by Assistant Superintendent Mutang Nawat were at the scene together with officials from Petronas and Fire and Rescue Services Department.
A source from Petronas said pipeline leaks would normally be detected by a drop in pressure gauges at the control centre. "In this case, that would likely be in Kimanis because that is where the LNG (liquefied natural gas) is pumped from.
"To determine the cause of the explosion would not be easy but based on what has been reported, there seem to be agricultural activities in the area and reports of people from surrounding communities hunting there. Sparks and flammables are not supposed to mix."
State Fire and Rescue Services Department director Noor Hisham Mohammad said it was still too early to determine the cause of the fire but investigations were continuing.
The 512km pipeline feeds natural gas to the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu from the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal in Kimanis.
An initial flow of 65 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) from the Kinabalu Non-Associated Gas field southwest of the state via a 120km underwater pipeline has been pumped to the SOGT since Dec 18 last year.