Latest update November 15th, 2024 1:00 AM
Tugboat fire leaves two severely burnt
The tugboat on fire in the Demerara River.
Kaieteur News – Two men are now hospitalised with second and third degree burns about their bodies after a ruptured fuel line caused a fire in the engine room of a tugboat moored at Lot P Gopie Wharf, Hope, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on Monday.
While this publication is not in a position to share details about the victims, the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), in a statement, revealed it received a call around 07:57hrs on Monday that a marine vessel was on fire in the Demerara River. Videos and images of the burning and sinking tugboat had surfaced on the various social media platforms too.
It was described as a wooden and metal vessel owned by an American citizen identified as Feizal Amin. According to GFS, it responded by heading to the scene with its fire boat – Protector #8 – to extinguish the fire. Firefighters were successful in their bid to put out the fire by using three jets from its fireboat, along with little over a drum of foam. The fire destroyed the engine room of the tugboat completely and its contents. The vessel also capsized as a result of the fire.
GFS investigators learnt that two men were onboard the vessel when the fire started and sustained burns to their bodies. According to the GFS, “the supposed cause of the fire is a ruptured fuel line.”
The investigators are working with a theory that fuel began leaking from the ruptured line and came into contact with the tugboat’s generator exhaust and ignited the fire. The fire then spread quickly after it came into contact with other combustible materials in the engine room.
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