Fire on research ship off Mangaluru coast; 30 crew members, 16 scientists rescued
New Delhi: A fire broke out on a marine research vessel off Karnataka's New Mangalore coast, following which 30 crew members and 16 scientists were rescued by the coast guard, an official said Saturday.
Around 10 pm Friday, Marine Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai, was informed about the fire on ocean research vessel (ORV) Sagar Sampada, Coast Guard Inspector General (West region) Vijay Chaphekar said.
The vessel belongs to an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Of the 16 scientists onboard, three were women, he said.
The fire broke out in the accommodation area of the vessel and the crew were not able to control its spread. The Coast Guard pressed into service ICGS Vikram and ICGS Sujay to render necessary assistance, the official said.
"The Indian Coast Guard ships arrived at vessel's position just past midnight on March 16 and deployed a joint fire-fighting team to contain the blaze," Chaphekar said, adding external fire fighting system fitted on the Indian Coast Guard ships were also used to control the spread of blaze.
The team boarded the vessel and assessed the situation. It was found that eight compartments in the accommodation area were on fire, he said.
Extensive fire-fighting operations were undertaken which continued for over eight hours. Following that ORV Sagar Sampada proceeded towards New Mangalore harbour safely, Chaphekar said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
