JAKARTA, Oct 22 — A fire broke out on a pipeline operated by Indonesian state oil and gas company Pertamina in West Java province today, killing a Chinese construction worker, a local fire official said.

Pertamina halted fuel distribution through the pipeline temporarily, a company spokeswoman, Dewi Sri Utami, told reporters.

She said the company would not comment on the cause of the fire until after it has carried out an investigation and is focusing for now on putting out the blaze.

Video footage showed thick black smoke rising from one side of a highway and engulfing part of a busy toll road.

The construction worker who was killed was a crane operator, the local fire department official said by telephone.

Local media said the fire had broken after drilling work was carried out as part of the construction of a China-funded US$6 billion (RM25 billion) high-speed railway project linking Jakarta and Bandung, the capital of West Java. — Reuters