A villager died while his two neighbours were critically-injured after a makeshift oil well exploded in Indonesia.

Safrizal, 32, was drilling oil from the illegal structure Boihaqi Risman, 31, and Juwardi, 33, when the explosion happened in East Aceh Regency on Friday evening, March 11.

He was nearest the blast site and died in the ambulance while the other two reached the hospital and in critical condition due to having severe burns.

Authorities rushed to extinguish the inferno which was controlled after five hours on March 12 around 3 a.m. The cause of the blaze was still unknown but officers said it could be due to the villagers' incapability as they were running a makeshift oil well with no permits.

East Aceh Police officer Kombes Winardy said: 'It is suspected that the explosion was caused by the high volume of gas mixed with oil and spilt onto the ground.

'The three were incapable of running an oil well so they may have panicked and did not have time to follow safety procedures but we are still looking into it.'

When the explosion happened, residents reported seeing an 80ft-high fire and contacted the local fire department.

Deputy of Business Support for the Aceh Oil and Gas Management Agency Afrul Wahyuni said: 'There were three victims in this incident. One person died on the way to the hospital. Two people have been treated at the hospital.'

Afrul added that the location of the fire was an illegal oil well and as it was not the first time a fire has occurred on similar structures the local government were trying to find solutions.

He said: 'This illegal oil drilling is indeed prohibited. But the community has been doing it for a long time, and it has become a source of income for them. We are working on a good solution to this problem.'

Indonesia ranks 27th in countries with the most oil reserves in the world. However, unregulated mining of rich resources has resulted in deadly accidents over the years.