Fishing boat with 2 Chinese, 6 Filipinos on board catches fire

Two Chinese and six Filipinos, aged between 25 and 55, were on board the 50-meter ship registered in China's Taiwan when the incident took place due possibly to engine breakdown.

An officer from the Pork Dickson Maritime Enforcement Agency from the state of Negeri Sembilan told reporters here on Thursday that the authority received a call at 7.30am Thursday from a cargo ship, saying that a fishing boat was found burning in the sea.

"The boat that carried out fishing activities in Maldives was passing through the Malacca Straits to Singapore when it caught fire, possibly because of an engine problem," said the officer.

According to the officer, the entire rear part of the fishing boat was destroyed, including the fishing equipment.

While the incident did not cause any casualty, the officer said the eight fishermen were sent to Port Klang in the state of Selangor.

It was initially planned to bring the fishermen to a hospital here but the dock was too small to accomodate the cruise ship that saved the eight people who jumped into the sea.

The agency assigned several rescue boats to the scene to help extinguish the fire and bring the boat back to the dock here after the fire came under control; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

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