Three sailors sustained burn injuries when a fire broke out following a blast on board a lighter vessel in the sea off Patenga beach near Chittagong's Akmal Ali Ghat here late Friday night.
The fire broke out by an explosion that occurred at lighter vessel ‘Muhuri-2' while it was still in the mid sea on Friday at 11:30pm, said Afsar Uddin, senior officer of Karnaphuli EPZ Fire Station.
However, when the fire service went to the Akmal Ali Ghat area after getting information about the fire from locals, they were unable to reach the spot due to a lack of boats, said the official.
The fire was brought under control around 2:30am Saturday with the help of rescue ship ‘Kandari-8' and coast guard.
The injured were taken to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital.
The vessel was heavily damaged by the fire.
What caused the explosion could not be known immediately.
Meanwhile, Jahangir Alam, a local claimed that the fire began when oil was stolen from the lighter vessel and was transferred to a boat. Oil stealing occurs on a regular basis in that area.
