Male’-bound boat sinks; 48 rescued, including children

48 people, including four children, were rescued by the authorities on Sunday after the speedboat they were travelling on sank off the coast of ADh. Dhigurah.

In a post on X, the police said that the speedboat ‘Huvafen’ was travelling from Dhigurah to Male’ City with 45 passengers and three crew members when it sank.

The police received reports of the incident at around 07:57 am Sunday.

The police said that emergency response teams were immediately dispatched to the scene, ensuring the safe rescue of all individuals onboard, including four children.

The incident did not result in any injuries, and the passengers and crew were transported back to Dhigurah.

“All passengers and crew have been transported to Dhigurah and are in good health,” said the police.

However, the exact cause of the boat sinking is unclear and is now the subject of a police investigation.

“A thorough investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident,” said the police.

“We commend the swift response of our rescue teams and all those who assisted in this operation.”

The incident had come with a yellow weather alert for thunderstorms and strong winds in place for central Maldives, where both Dhigurah and Male’ are located

The yellow alert had replaced an orange one the previous day, when torrential rain and thunderstorms resulted in extensive flooding in multiple islands, including Male’.

40 people in four homes in Male’ were moved to temporary shelters after flooding caused sewers to overflow.

Meanwhile, K. Dhiffushi experienced over 296 millimeters of rainfall – setting a new record for the heaviest daily rainfall in an island.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has declared Sunday a public holiday with the bad weather conditions expected to prevail until at least Monday.