Fire destroys three dhows at Dubai Creek

Dubai - Official says two of the boats were fully loaded and were almost ready to set sail to Iran.

A huge fire which erupted in a dhow loaded with goods at the Dubai Creek soon spread to two other dhows, totally gutting all three. One of the crew members suffered minor injuries while trying to escape. No other casualties have been reported.
Financial losses, however, could amount to millions of dirhams.
The operations room of the civil defence received information of the fire at about 3.40pm on Monday after one of the crew members gave them a call. Fire fighters and rescue teams reached the spot within minutes and evicted 14 sailors and workers. They also managed to salvage some of the goods from the boats.
Thick smoke billowed from the Iranian dhows and fire fighters managed to cordon off other dhows to prevent the spread of the fire. Fire brigades and firefighters from four civil defence stations including Rashidiya, Port Saeed, Al Ras and Karama rushed to the scene, backed by the maritime rescue teams from Dubai Police.
Major Ali Abdullah Al Naqbi, head, maritime rescue department at the department of transport and rescue, Dubai Police, said there were successive explosions due to the presence of inflammable goods such as perfumes and dyes. He pointed out that two of the boats were fully loaded and were almost ready to set sail to Iran.
He added that has been an increase of fire incidents on dhows recently but none have been of this magnitude.
- amira@khaleejtimes.com