Sharjah: A cargo ship caught fire and sank off Sharjah coast on Monday, killing one and injuring three others, a Civil Defence official said.
One of the crew members is missing, the official added.
The vessel caught fire 5 miles (8 kilometres) away from the Sharjah coast.
“The fire broke out on board the vessel at around 9am,” Colonel Khalid Obaid Bin Kanoon, acting Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence, told Gulf News.
Colonel Bin Kanoon said three crew members sustained serious to moderate burns. Police operations control room immediately dispatched a team from Civil Defence and notified the Coast Guard, who reached the scene to rescue the crew members on board the vessel.
Bin Kanoon said when the rescue teamed arrived at the site they found that of the five Asian men on board, one of them had died at the spot while another man jumped into the sea as the fire spread in the vessel. Three crew members sustained serious to moderate burns and were given first aid at the scene.
An official at Al Kuwaiti hospital told Gulf News that three of the crew members were admitted to the intensive care unit at 11.30am.
The injured were identified as S.A., 20, from Bangladesh, S.A.K,,21, Indian and M.K.,19, also of India.
A thick blanket of smoke enveloped the area as the Coast Guard team battled to save the vessel’s burning cargo. The fire gutted the vessel completely and it sank.
Police of Khalid Port are probing the incident to determine the cause of the fire. The search for the missing sailor continues.
