Vizag off coast fire mishap : Three still critical, one dead, one missing

VISAKHAPATNAM : The condition of three persons, who received over 90 per cent burn injuries in a fire that broke out in a Coastal Jaguar (SPM Support Vessel) in the Bay of Bengal on Monday, continued to be a cause for concern on Tuesday.

Though the hospital authorities maintained that they were doing everything to improve their condition, the injured three persons are in a still critical condition.

It may be recalled that one person died while another person went missing and 24 crew members were rescued after the fire broke out in Coastal Jaguar. This Jaguar was hired by HPCL and was carrying out operations on Monday at Single Point Mooring (SPM), belonging to HPCL, where crude and oil is handled.

Based on the information, the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) has deployed its Four Crafts - Sea Lion Agile, Sea Lion Sentinel, Sardar Patel and Fire Float and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Vessel CG-81, all of which simultaneously participated to rescue the crew in the Coastal Jaguar.

There were 26 personnel including the crew in the vessel when the fire broke out. All the 26 members had to abandon their vessel and jump into the water to save themselves from the fire which engulfed the vessel. Of the 26 people in the vessel, 24 were rescued by the VPT and ICG, two went missing, of which one body was found while the other is yet to be traced, VPT officials said.

Of the 24 rescued people, 15 have received burn injuries and they have been admitted a private hospital. Five people were discharged from the hospital. The remaining 10 injured are in ICU, of which 3 sustained more than 90% burns and are in a critical condition. The fire-fighting operation went up till late Monday night. With strenuous efforts of VPT and CG-81 teams, the fire and smoke were extinguished. The VPT team has brought the vessel into Inner Harbour and the situation is under control.