Gasoline loaded boat explodes

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A boat crew died, five seriously injured, two of them in serious condition, while three others were still missing after a motor launch carrying about 30,000 liters of gasoline exploded as it is about to leave a private port here Friday night.

Police Regional Office 9 (PRO-9) information officer Captain Edwin Duco said yesterday that the M/L Saidai Mae, owned by a certain Hadji Salam Hadah, was loaded with about 30,000 liters of gasoline intended for Jolo, Sulu when it caught fire and exploded about 10:30 p.m. on Friday.

Died due to the explosion was Renie Jimlani, a laborer whose body remained floating at sea near the Baliwasan Seaside Petron wharf in Barangay Baliwasan Zamboanga City.

Those seriously injured include boat skipper Jilam Madda and boat mechanic Mauar Najar Hamimon, who both sustained serious injuries in the different parts of their bodies and were brought to the Brent Hospital for immediate medical treatment.

The three other crew members who also suffered injuries have remained unidentified, while two more remained missing until press time yesterday.

Based on the report, Hamimon had started the boat engine in preparation for its departure from the port when it sparked due to engine malfunction that caused the fire.

Duco said the fire had totally razed the semi-steel hauled motor launch.

Following this incident, police and Bureau of Fire Protection authorities in this city were jointly conducting an investigation on how the boat was able to load 30,000 liters of gasoline.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PCG OPERATIVES of PCG and other government agencies seized some 200 tons of fossilized giant clams, with an estimated value P1.2 billion, which resulted in the arrest of suspected poachers in Roxas, Palawan.