11 Dies as Two Ships Catch fire in the Kerch Strait

11 Dies as Two Ships Catch fire in the Kerch Strait

Guwahati: In an unfortunate incident of fire in two ships carrying Indian, Turkish and Libyan crew members, at least 11 persons have died. The incident took place in the Kerch Strait that separates Crimea from Russia on Monday. The vessels were transferring fuel from one to the other and right then the fire broke out.

The vessels had crew members from different nations like India, Turkey and Libya and were flying Tanzanian flags. One of the ships was a liquefied natural gas carrier and the other one was a tanker. The fire broke out as the two ships were transferring fuel from one to the other.

There were 17 crew members in one of the ships called Candy of whom nine were Turkish citizens and eight Indian nationals. The other ship called Maestro had 15-member crew and of those seven were Turkish nationals, seven Indian citizens and a Libyan intern.

As confirmed by the Russian Maritime Agency, of the total crew members present in the vessels, at least 11 sailors have died.

A spokesperson of the agency said, “Presumably, an explosion occurred (on one of the vessels). Then the fire spread to another vessel. A rescue tug is en route.”

Some other sailors present in the ships even managed to escape the disaster as they could find way to jump into the sea from the ships. Twelve survivors of the fire incident have so long been rescued by the rescue operations. Other than the ones who are dead and the ones who are rescued, nine other sailors too have been listed who are marked missing so far.

This is also reported that there was "no signal from either one of the two captains" for which the sailors could not escape the fire. Authorities in the Crimean city of Kerch are making preparations to receive the victims.

Meanwhile, as an added disaster to the rescue and medication of the sailors, the bad weather has prevented the rescue teams in carrying the sailors to the shore for which medical treatment to the wounded have been delayed.

The Kerch Strait is considered an important economic connector between Russia and Ukraine through which the Black Sea can be accessed. Moreover, it also acts as the closest access point for Russia to Crimea.

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