A huge fire broke out at the fish pier on the coast of Visakhapatnam on Sunday midnight. 45 mechanized boats caught fire.
Today-Visakhapatnam, Onetown-Newstoday: A huge fire broke out at the fish pier on the coast of Visakhapatnam on Sunday midnight. 45 mechanized boats caught fire. Of these, 36 were completely burnt while nine were partially burnt. Fishermen say that each boat is worth Rs 30-40 lakh. It is estimated by the Fisheries Department officials that there has been a property loss of around Rs.15 crores. The first fire broke out in a boat anchored at Zero Jetty. Gradually the Agnikeelas stuck to the other boats. The accident has left fishermen families heartbroken. Seeing the lifeboat burning in front of their eyes, a victim trying to jump into the flames moved the onlookers to tears. A fire broke out in a boat on the Zero Jetty at 11.10 pm on Sunday. Operators of other boats… pulled anchor and tried to pull the boat aside. Meanwhile, the fire spread to another boat. Due to the strong winds, the fire keels were large and stuck to the other boats. The diesel reserves kept in the boats ready for hunting got burnt and the danger increased. The gas cylinders exploded with loud noises. The flames from the explosions fell on the auction center near the jetty and burnt the wooden boxes. The fire was not extinguished till 11 am on Monday. The Fire Department and the Port Navy personnel brought the fire under control.
Video on YouTube
Onetown station police are investigating the case. Visakha YouTuber ‘Localboy Nani’… filmed the boats burning and uploaded the video on his channel. Suspicious of Nani and his friends, the police detained them on Monday and interrogated them. It seems that the police confirmed through the CCTV footage that Nani was at home on Sunday as his wife was sick, had a party with friends at a hotel at 7 pm and came out at 11 am. According to the preliminary investigation, it has been revealed that he came to know about the accident, went to the scene, took a video and put it on YouTube.
Fisheries Minister Sidiri Appalaraju visited the fishing pier on Monday afternoon and inspected the burnt boats. The fishermen who protested at the fish port gate spoke to the boat operators asking the government to help them who have lost their livelihood. He assured that the government would support the victims. In a statement, Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan appealed to the government to help those who lost their boats.
Big risk missed
CM’s shock: CM Jagan expressed shock over the fire incident. The officials were ordered to give 80 percent of the value of the burnt boats as compensation. They want to conduct a deep investigation and find out the causes of the accident.
Tags: Heavy fire accident Visakhapatnam
