Visakhapatnam: A mechanized boat went up in flames after a cooking gas cylinder exploded in mid-sea at about 65 nautical miles off Visakhapatnam coast on Thursday night. All the nine fishermen sustained burn injuries and of them five sustained serious burns.
Soon after the incident, the fishermen jumped into water and alerted Coast guard over their VHF set. Indian Coast Guard Vessel ICG Veera rushed to the spot and rescued the injured from the waters. They brought them to shore and were admitted into King George hospital, Visakhapatnam.
Joint director of fisheries K Vijay Krishna said the boat sailed off the Kakinada coast and the incident took place at about 8 pm on Thursday evening while the fishermen were busy fishing. He said his department received information at about 5 pm on Friday.
The injured were identified as Danti Palla Srinu (45), M Sridhar (50), Gangotri (38), Veerababu (20), Satyababu (40), Vajram (40), S Sattibabu (52), Dharma Rao (42) and Y Sattibabu (43).
