Three sustain burns in fuel boat fire

Three people sustained burn injuries on Wednesday, in a fire that broke out on a fuel supply boat in the Thilafushi lagoon.

According to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), the fire on board the Vaaliya 7 boat was reported to the service at 10:20 am Wednesday.

Firefighters from the MNDF Male’ Area Command’s Thilafushi Fire Station were deployed to respond to the fire.

According to the MNDF, the three people onboard sustained varying degrees of burn injuries, and were taken to the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’ City.

A spokesperson from IGMH told Sun that two of them have been discharged after treatment.

“Three people were brought in with burns. Out of them, a migrant and a local have been discharged. The third person – a local – is being treated at the ward,” said the spokesperson.

The captain of the boat suffered the worst of the injuries, with burns to face and right hand.

MNDF said the fire reportedly resulted from a spark upon starting the engine, after loading the fuel.

There were 20 liters of fuel on board when the fire broke out.

According to the MNDF, the boat sank after firefighters moved it out of the Thilafushi lagoon to put out the fire.

Firefighters are collecting the fuel tanks floating in the area.