Narrow escape for 5 fishermen as boat catches fire off Vizag shore

Visakhapatnam: Year 2020 seems to be cursed what with Covid-19 pandemic unleashing health and financial crisis across the world and a slew of mishaps leading to death at various corners of the country.

In the last few months, Vizag witnessed a number of industrial mishaps which claimed 30 lives and left many others hospitalised.

Not stopping at this, a mechanical boat, carrying five fishermen, caught fire when they were about to reach the harbour after fishing on Saturday evening.

Luckily, the fishermen jumped off the boat at the right time and managed to save their lives.

Noticing smoke emanating from the boat, fishermen resting at the harbour rushed to it and rescued the fishermen. The loss is estimated to be around Rs 50 lakh.

"A fire broke out in a fishing boat in the sea, at a short distance from the Vizag fishing harbour. It could have caught fire due to a technical fault. No casualties were reported," read a media statement from the harbour police station.

Suresh Babu, Vizag Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), said, "A police inspector inspected the boat. All fishermen are safe."

While a major part of the journey has been safe, the boat caught fire near the engine and front cabin while it was reaching the port. The fishermen were grading their catch at that time.

As per the initial reports, a major fire accident could have occurred as the boat had many gas cylinders onboard to be used as fuel for the engine. However, the fire was restricted to the cabin of the boat