In an unfortunate incident, at least nine fisherman had a close shave after a fishing boat caught fire in the middle of Chilika on Sunday.
The boat ‘Bhagirathi-3’ has been completely gutted and reduced to ashes in the mishap, reports said.
According to sources, nine fisherman from Paradip had gone into the deep waters of Chilika for fishing. However, the boat caught fire and exploded.
Luckily, all the nine fishermen jumped into the water and were later rescued safely by another boat ‘Muktimandap'.
While the exact reason for the fire mishap is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that a LPG gas cylinder blast inside the boat led to the explosion.
The LPG cylinder was used by the fishermen to cook during the fishing, reports said.
On the other hand, another boat ‘Sri Laxminarayan’ had also caught fire while going for fishing at Paradip. Sources said, the silencer of the boat blasted mid-way, leading to the explosion.
Eight fishermen present inside the boat also luckily escaped with minor injuries.