Panaji (PTI): The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Saturday said its three ships have been trying to douse the fire that broke out on a merchant vessel - an operation that has been continuing for the last 12 hours off the coast of Karwar in Karnataka.
The three ICS ships - Sujeet, Sachet and Samrat - have been engaged in the firefighting operation on the cargo vessel 6.5 nautical miles south of Karwar, it said.
The ship carrying hazardous material had caught major fire about 102 nautical miles southwest of Goa on Friday.
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On Saturday morning, the ICG said on its X handle, "Ships Sujeet, Sachet and Samrat have been fighting the fire for over 12 hours, preventing its spread. As of 0700 hrs, 20 Jul, the vessel is 6.5 NM south of Karwar."
ICG's Dornier aircraft is conducting aerial assessment, with an additional aircraft from Kochi positioned for the search and rescue operation, it said.
"ETV Water Lily departed #Mumbai on 19 Jul, arriving on scene by 21 Jul," it added.
The merchant vessel, on its way from Mundra to Colombo, was reportedly carrying "International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) cargo" and explosions have been occurring on its front part, the ICG had said on Friday.
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ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.