FIRE GUTS THREE CARGO BOATS IN KARIMUN

Karimun, Kepri Oct. 2 (ANTARA) - Fire gutted three boats and a garage at a pier belonging to a businessman named Abeng, a resident of Baran III, Meral subdistrict, Karimun district, Riau Islands province on Thursday night, a witness said.

Information obtained from the local people here on Friday said that the fire was presumed to have originated from the engine room of Popo, a cargo vessel of nearly 100 dead weight tons.

"We saw the fire burning in the boat's engine room and spreading quickly to other boats and a garage located next to the pier," Atan, a local resident said, adding that the empty Popo vessel had just arrived at the pier.

He, however, didn't mention the names of the two other ill-fated boats.

The strong wind caused fire blazing fast that burned the boat and small fishing boats which were also berthed beside the Popo vessel.

The fire also spread to the garage near the pier and the kitchen of a nearby house.

Local residents also tried to extinguish the fire by mobilizing five lorries (water tank cars) and flush the roof of houses in order not to widen and lead to greater losses.

"We had difficulty to put out the fire due to an explosion that allegedly came from the oil tank in the garage," Atan said.

In the meantime, the Karimun district administration also deployed a fire truck that successfully put out the fire within one hour at around 07:30 pm.

There was no immediate report of casualties but material losses were estimated to reach tens of millions of rupiah.